THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


FOLK    TALES 

FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 


""THE  illustrations  for  "Folk 

Tales  from  the  Russian  " 

are  by  LUCY  FITCH  PERKINS, 

after  sketches  by  the  author. 


"She  gave  him  a  touchstone  and  flint " 
(See  page  134) 


FOLK  TALES 

FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 


RETOLD   BY 

VERRA   XENOPHONTOVNA 
KALAMATIANO   DE  BLUMENTHAL 


RAND,  McNALLY  &  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 

CHICAGO  NEW  YORK  LONDON 


Copyright^  jyoji 

By  VERRA  X.  K.  DE  BLUMENTHAL 
Entered  at  Stationers'  Hall 


ELECTROTYPED  AND  PRINTED  BY 


CHICAGO,    ILLINOIS,   U.    S.  A. 


FOREWORD 

TN  Russia,  as  elsewhere  in  the  world,  folklore 
is  rapidly  scattering  before  the  practical  spirit 
of  modern  progress.  The  traveling  peasant  bard 
or  story  teller,  and  the  devoted  "  nyanya,"  the 
beloved  nurse  of  many  a  generation,  are  rapidly 
dying  out,  and  with  them  the  tales  and  legends, 
the  last  echoes  of  the  nation's  early  joys  and 
sufferings,  hopes  and  fears,  are  passing  away. 
The  student  of  folk-lore  knows  that  the  time  has 
come  when  haste  is  needed  to  catch  these  van- 
ishing songs  of  the  nation's  youth  and  to  pre- 
serve them  for  the  delight  of  future  generations. 
In  sending  forth  the  stories  in  the  present  vol- 
ume, all  of  which  are  here  set  down  in  print  for 
the  first  time,  it  is  my  hope  that  they  may  enable 
American  children  to  share  with  the  children  of 
Russia  the  pleasure  of  glancing  into  the  magic 
world  of  the  old  Slavic  nation. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


[7] 


SILVIO 


•  THE  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Foreword 7 

A  List  of  Illustrations 10 

Dedication n 

Notes 149 

FOLK    TALES 

The  Tsarevna  Frog 13 

Seven  Simeons 27 

The  Language  of  the  Birds 66 

Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton 77 

Woe  Bogotir 107 

Baba  Yaga 118 

Dimian  the  Peasant 128 

The  Golden  Mountain 132 

Father  Frost 141 


A  LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 


"  She  gave  him  a  touchstone  and  flint  "     .    Frontispiece 

The  Tsarevna  Frog      ..........  12 

"  Hunters,  grooms,  and  servants  rushed  in  all 

directions"     .............  34 

Ivan  learns  the  language  of  the  birds   ....  67 

"  The  old  man  went  begging  from  town  to  town  "  74 

"  One  brother  was  sent  to  watch  the  turkeys  "  .  105 

The  rich  brother      ...........  109 

"The  children  ran  away  as  fast  as  their  little 

feet  could  possibly  carry  them  "     .     .     .    .  125 

"  Well,  I  struck  a  snag  "    .......    .    .  129 

"  Old  Frost  gave  the  gentle  girl  many  beautiful, 

beautiful  things"       .........  144 


TO  MY  LITTLE  FRIEND 

EDITH  EVANS 

AND  ALL  AMERICAN  CHILDREN 


The  Tsarevna  Frog 
(See  page  13) 


FOLK  TALES 
FROM  THE   RUSSIAN 

THE   TSAREVNA 
FROG 

N  an  old,  old  Russian 
tsarstvo,  I  do  not 
know  when,  there 
lived  a  sovereign 
prince  with  the 
princess  his  wife. 
They  had  three 
sons,  all  of  them 
young,  and  such 
brave  fellows  that 
no  pen  could  de- 
scribe them.  The  youngest  had  the  name 
of  Ivan  Tsarevitch.  One  day  their  father 
said  to  his  sons  : 

"My  dear  boys,  take  each  of  you  an 
arrow,  draw  your  strong  bow  and  let  your 
arrow  fly ;  in  whatever  court  it  falls,  in 
that  court  there  will  be  a  wife  for  you." 


14     FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

The  arrow  of  the  oldest  Tsarevitch  fell 
on  a  boyar-house  just  in  front  of  the  terem 
where  women  live ;  the  arrow  of  the  sec- 
ond Tsarevitch  flew  to  the  red  porch  of  a 
rich  merchant,  and  on  the  porch  there 
stood  a  sweet  girl,  the  merchant's  daugh- 
ter. The  youngest,  the  brave  Tsarevitch 
Ivan,  had  the  ill  luck  to  send  his  arrow 
into  the  midst  of  a  swamp,  where  it  was 
caught  by  a  croaking  frog. 

Ivan  Tsarevitch  came  to  his  father: 
"How  can  I  marry  the  frog?"  complained 
the  son.  "Is  she  my  equal?  Certainly 
she  is  not." 

' '  Never  mind, "  replied  his  father,  "you 
have  to  marry  the  frog,  for  such  is  evi- 
dently your  destiny." 

Thus  the  brothers  were  married :  the 
oldest  to  a  young  boyarishnia,  a  noble- 
man's child;  the  second  to  the  merchant's 
beautiful  daughter,  and  the  youngest, 
Tsarevitch  Ivan,  to  a  croaking  frog. 

After  a  while  the  sovereign  prince 
called  his  three  sons  and  said  to  them : 

' '  Have  each  of  your  wives  bake  a  loaf 
of  bread  by  to-morrow  morning." 

Ivan  returned  home.     There  was  no 


THE  TSAREVNA   FROG  15 

smile  on  his  face,  and  his  brow  was 
clouded. 

"C-R-o-A-K!  C-R-O-A-K  !  Dear  husband 
of  mine,  Tsarevitch  Ivan,  why  so  sad?" 
gently  asked  the  frog.  ' '  Was  there  any- 
thing disagreeable  in  the  palace?" 

"Disagreeable  indeed, "  answered  Ivan 
Tsarevitch  ;  ' '  the  Tsar,  my  father,  wants 
you  to  bake  a  loaf  of  white  bread  by  to- 
morrow." 

' '  Do  not  worry, Tsarevitch.  Go  to  bed  ; 
the  morning  hour  is  a  better  adviser  than 
the  dark  evening." 

The  Tsarevitch,  taking  his  wife's  ad- 
vice, went  to  sleep.  Then  the  frog  threw 
off  her  frogskin  and  turned  into  a  beauti- 
ful, sweet  girl,  Vassilissa  by  name.  She 
now  stepped  out  on  the  porch  and  called 
aloud: 

"Nurses  and  waitresses,  come  to  me 
at  once  and  prepare  a  loaf  of  white  bread 
for  to-morrow  morning,  a  loaf  exactly  like 
those  I  used  to  eat  in  my  royal  father's 
palace." 

In  the  morning  Tsarevitch  Ivan  awoke 
with  the  crowing  cocks,  and  you  know 
the  cocks  and  chickens  are  never  late. 


16  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

Yet  the  loaf  was  already  made,  and  so 
fine  it  was  that  nobody  could  even  de- 
scribe it,  for  only  in  fairyland  one  finds 
such  marvelous  loaves.  It  was  adorned 
all  about  with  pretty  figures,  with  towns 
and  fortresses  on  each  side,  and  within 
it  was  white  as  snow  and  light  as  a 
feather. 

The  Tsar  father  was  pleased  and  the 
Tsarevitch  received  his  special  thanks. 

"Now  there  is  another  task,"  said  the 
Tsar  smilingly.  ' '  Have  each  of  your 
wives  weave  a  rug  by  to-morrow." 

Tsarevitch  Ivan  came  back  to  his 
home.  There  was  no  smile  on  his  face 
and  his  brow  was  clouded. 

"C-R-o-A-K  !  C-R-O-A-K  !  Dear  Tsare- 
vitch Ivan,  my  husband  and  master, 
why  so  troubled  again  ?  Was  not  father 
pleased  ?" 

' '  How  can  I  be  otherwise  ?  The  Tsar, 
my  father,  has  ordered  a  rug  by  to- 
morrow." 

"Do  not  worry,  Tsarevitch.  Go  to 
bed ;  go  to  sleep.  The  morning  hour 
will  bring  help." 

Again  the  frog  turned  into  Vassilissa, 


THE  TSAREVNA  FROG  17 

the  wise  maiden,  and  again  she  called 
aloud : 

"Dear  nurses  and  faithful  waitresses, 
come  to  me  for  new  work.  Weave  a  silk 
rug  like  the  one  I  used  to  sit  upon  in  the 
palace  of  the  king,  my  father." 

Once  said,  quickly  done.  When  the 
cocks  began  their  early  "cock-a-doodle- 
doo,"  Tsarevitch  Ivan  awoke,  and  lo  ! 
there  lay  the  most  beautiful  silk  rug 
before  him,  a  rug  that  no  one  could  begin 
to  describe.  Threads  of  silver  and  gold 
were  interwoven  among  bright-colored 
silken  ones,  and  the  rug  was  too  beauti- 
ful for  anything  but  to  admire. 

The  Tsar  father  was  pleased,  thanked 
his  son  Ivan,  and  issued  a  new  order. 
He  now  wished  to  see  the  three  wives  of 
his  handsome  sons,  and  they  were  to  pre- 
sent their  brides  on  the  next  day. 

The  Tsarevitch  Ivan  returned  home. 
Cloudy  was  his  brow,  more  cloudy  than 
before. 

"C-R-O-A-K!  C-R-O-A-K  !  Tsarevitch,  my 
dear  husband  and  master,  why  so  sad? 
Hast  thou  heard  anything  unpleasant  at 
the  palace  ?" 


1 8     FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

' '  Unpleasant  enough,  indeed  !  My 
father,  the  Tsar,  ordered  all  of  us  to  pre- 
sent our  wives  to  him.  Now  tell  me,  how 
could  I  dare  go  with  thee  ?" 

"  It  is  not  so  bad  after  all,  and  might  be 
much  worse,"  answered  the  frog,  gently 
croaking.  "Thou  shalt  go  alone  and  I 
will  follow  thee.  When  thou  hearest  a 
noise,  a  great  noise,  do  not  be  afraid ; 
simply  say :  '  There  is  my  miserable 
froggy  coming  in  her  miserable  box.'  " 

The  two  elder  brothers  arrived  first 
with  their  wives,  beautiful,  bright,  and 
cheerful,  and  dressed  in  rich  garments. 
Both  the  happy  bridegrooms  made  fun  of 
the  Tsarevitch  Ivan. 

"Why  alone,  brother?"  they  laugh- 
ingly said  to  him.  "Why  didst  thou  not 
bring  thy  wife  along  with  thee  ?  Was 
there  no  rag  to  cover  her  ?  Where  couldst 
thou  have  gotten  such  a  beauty  ?  We  are 
ready  to  wager  that  in  all  the  swamps  in 
the  dominion  of  our  father  it  would  be 
hard  to  find  another  one  like  her."  And 
they  laughed  and  laughed. 

Lo  !  what  a  noise  !  The  palace  trem- 
bled, the  guests  were  all  frightened. 


THE  TSAREVNA  FROG  19 

Tsarevitch  Ivan  alone  remained  quiet 
and  said : 

"No  danger;  it  is  my  froggy  coming 
in  her  box." 

To  the  red  porch  came  flying  a  golden 
carriage  drawn  by  six  splendid  white 
horses,  and  Vassilissa,  beautiful  beyond 
all  description,  gently  reached  her  hand 
to  her  husband.  He  led  her  with  him  to 
the  heavy  oak  tables,  which  were  cov- 
ered with  snow-white  linen  and  loaded 
with  many  wonderful  dishes  such  as  are 
known  and  eaten  only  in  the  land  of 
fairies  and  never  anywhere  else.  The 
guests  were  eating  and  chatting  gayly. 

Vassilissa  drank  some  wine,  and  what 
was  left  in  the  tumbler  she  poured  into 
her  left  sleeve.  She  ate  some  of  the 
fried  swan,  and  the  bones  she  threw  into 
her  right  sleeve.  The  wives  of  the  two 
elder  brothers  watched  her  and  did  ex- 
actly the  same. 

When  the  long,  hearty  dinner  was 
over,  the  guests  began  dancing  and  sing- 
ing. The  beautiful  Vassilissa  came  for- 
ward, as  bright  as  a  star,  bowed  to  her 
sovereign,  bowed  to  the  honorable  guests 


20  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

and  danced  with  her  husband,  the  happy 
Tsarevitch  Ivan. 

While  dancing,  Vassilissa  waved  her 
left  sleeve  and  a  pretty  lake  appeared 
in  the  midst  of  the  hall  and  cooled  the 
air.  She  waved  her  right  sleeve  and 
white  swans  swam  on  the  water.  The 
Tsar,  the  guests,  the  servants,  even  the 
gray  cat  sitting  in  the  corner,  all  were 
amazed  and  wondered  at  the  beautiful 
Vassilissa.  Her  two  sisters-in-law  alone 
envied  her.  When  their  turn  came  to 
dance,  they  also  waved  their  left  sleeves 
as  Vassilissa  had  done,  and,  oh,  wonder  ! 
they  sprinkled  wine  all  around.  They 
waved  their  right  sleeves,  and  instead  of 
swans  the  bones  flew  in  the  face  of  the 
Tsar  father.  The  Tsar  grew  very  angry 
and  bade  them  leave  the  palace.  In  the 
meantime  Ivan  Tsarevitch  watched  a 
moment  to  slip  away  unseen.  He  ran 
home,  found  the  frogskin,  and  burned  it 
in  the  fire. 

Vassilissa,  when  she  came  back, 
searched  for  the  skin,  and  when  she 
could  not  find  it  her  beautiful  face  grew 
sad  and  her  bright  eyes  filled  with  tears. 


THE  TSAREVNA  FROG  21 

She  said  to  Tsarevitch  Ivan,  her  hus- 
band: 

' '  Oh,  dear  Tsarevitch,  what  hast  thou 
done  ?  There  was  but  a  short  time  left 
for  me  to  wear  the  ugly  frogskin.  The 
moment  was  near  when  we  could  have 
been  happy  together  forever.  Now  I 
must  bid  thee  good-by.  Look  for  me 
in  a  far-away  country  to  which  no  one 
knows  the  roads,  at  the  palace  of  Kost- 
shei  the  Deathless ;"  and  Vassilissa  turned 
into  a  white  swan  and  flew  away  through 
the  window. 

Tsarevitch  Ivan  wept  bitterly.  Then 
he  prayed  to  the  almighty  God,  and  mak- 
ing the  sign  of  the  cross  northward, 
southward,  eastward,  and  westward,  he 
went  on  a  mysterious  journey. 

No  one  knows  how  long  his  journey 
was,  but  one  day  he  met  an  old,  old  man. 
He  bowed  to  the  old  man,  who  said : 

"Good-day,  brave  fellow.  What  art 
thou  searching  for,  and  whither  art  thou 
going?" 

Tsarevitch  Ivan  answered  sincerely, 
telling  all  about  his  misfortune  without 
hiding  anything. 


22  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE   RUSSIAN 

"And  why  didst  thou  burn  the  frog- 
skin? It  was  wrong  to  do  so.  Listen 
now  to  me.  Vassilissa  was  born  wiser 
than  her  own  father,  and  as  he  envied 
his  daughter's  wisdom  he  condemned  her 
to  be  a  frog  for  three  long  years.  But  I 
pity  thee  and  want  to  help  thee.  Here  is 
a  magic  ball.  In  whatever  direction  this 
ball  rolls,  follow  without  fear." 

Ivan  Tsarevitch  thanked  the  good  old 
man,  and  followed  his  new  guide,  the 
ball.  Long,  very  long,  was  his  road. 
One  day  in  a  wide,  flowery  field  he  met 
a  bear,  a  big  Russian  bear.  Ivan  Tsare- 
vitch took  his  bow  and  was  ready  to 
shoot  the  bear. 

"Do  not  kill  me,  kind  Tsarevitch," 
said  the  bear.  "Who  knows  but  that  I 
maybe  useful  to  thee?"  And  Ivan  did 
not  shoot  the  bear. 

Above  in  the  sunny  air  there  flew  a 
duck,  a  lovely  white  duck.  Again  the 
Tsarevitch  drew  his  bow  to  shoot  it. 
But  the  duck  said  to  him : 

"Do  not  kill  me,  good  Tsarevitch.  I 
certainly  shall  be  useful  to  thee  some 
day." 


THE  TSAREVNA  FROG  23 

And  this  time  he  obeyed  the  command 
of  the  duck  and  passed  by.  Continuing 
his  way  he  saw  a  blinking  hare.  The 
Tsarevitch  prepared  an  arrow  to  shoot  it, 
but  the  gray,  blinking  hare  said: 

' '  Do  not  kill  me,  brave  Tsarevitch.  I 
shall  prove  myself  grateful  to  thee  in  a 
very  short  time." 

The  Tsarevitch  did  not  shoot  the  hare, 
but  passed  by.  He  walked  farther  and 
farther  after  the  rolling  ball,  and  came  to 
the  deep  blue  sea.  On  the  sand  there 
lay  a  fish.  I  do  not  remember  the  name 
of  the  fish,  but  it  was  a  big  fish,  almost 
dying  on  the  dry  sand. 

"  O  Tsarevitch  Ivan!"  prayed  the  fish, 
"have  mercy  upon  me  and  push  me 
back  into  the  cool  sea." 

The  Tsarevitch  did  so,  and  walked 
along  the  shore.  The  ball,  rolling  all  the 
time,  brought  Ivan  to  a  hut,  a  queer, 
tiny  hut  standing  on  tiny  hen's  feet. 

"Izboushka!  Izboushka!" — for  so  in 
Russia  do  they  name  small  huts — "Iz- 
boushka, I  want  thee  to  turn  thy  front 
to  me,"  cried  Ivan,  and  lo!  the  tiny  hut 
turned  its  front  at  once.  Ivan  stepped 


24  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

in  and  saw  a  witch,  one  of  the  ugliest 
witches  he  could  imagine. 

"Ho!  Ivan  Tsarevitch!  What  brings 
thee  here?"  was  his  greeting  from  the 
witch. 

"O,  thou  old  mischief!"  shouted  Ivan 
with  anger.  "  Is  it  the  way  in  holy  Russia 
to  ask  questions  before  the  tired  guest 
gets  something  to  eat,  something  to  drink, 
and  some  hot  water  to  wash  the  dust  off?" 

Baba  Yaga,  the  witch,  gave  the  Tsare- 
vitch plenty  to  eat  and  drink,  besides  hot 
water  to  wash  the  dust  off.  Tsarevitch 
Ivan  felt  refreshed.  Soon  he  became 
talkative,  and  related  the  wonderful  story 
of  his  marriage.  He  told  how  he  had  lost 
his  dear  wife,  and  that  his  only  desire  was 
to  find  her. 

"I  know  all  about  it,"  answered  the 
witch.  "She  is  now  at  the  palace  of 
Kostshei  the  Deathless,  and  thou  must 
understand  that  Kostshei  is  terrible.  He 
watches  her  day  and  night  and  no  one  can 
ever  conquer  him.  His  death  depends  on 
a  magic  needle.  That  needle  is  within  a 
hare ;  that  hare  is  within  a  large  trunk; 
that  trunk  is  hidden  in  the  branches  of  an 


THE  TSAREVNA  FROG  25 

old  oak  tree  ;  and  that  oak  tree  is  watched 
by  Kostshei  as  closely  as  Vassilissa  her- 
self, which  means  closer  than  any  treas- 
ure he  has." 

Then  the  witch  told  Ivan  Tsarevitch 
how  and  where  to  find  the  oak  tree.  Ivan 
hastily  went  to  the  place.  But  when  he 
perceived  the  oak  tree  he  was  much  dis- 
couraged, not  knowing  what  to  do  or  how 
to  begin  the  work.  Lo  and  behold !  that 
old  acquaintance  of  his,  the  Russian  bear, 
came  running  along,  approached  the  tree, 
uprooted  it,  and  the  trunk  fell  and  broke. 
A  hare  jumped  out  of  the  trunk  and 
began  to  run  fast ;  but  another  hare, 
Ivan's  friend,  came  running  after,  caught 
it  and  tore  it  to  pieces.  Out  of  the  hare 
there  flew  a  duck,  a  gray  one  which  flew 
very  high  and  was  almost  invisible,  but 
the  beautiful  white  duck  followed  the 
bird  and  struck  its  gray  enemy,  which 
lost  an  egg.  That  egg  fell  into  the  deep 
sea.  Ivan  meanwhile  was  anxiously 
watching  his  faithful  friends  helping 
him.  But  when  the  egg  disappeared  in 
the  blue  waters  he  could  not  help  weep- 
ing. All  of  a  sudden  a  big  fish  came 


26  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

swimming  up,  the  same  fish  he  had  saved, 
and  brought  the  egg  in  his  mouth.  How 
happy  Ivan  was  when  he  took  it !  He 
broke  it  and  found  the  needle  inside,  the 
magic  needle  upon  which  everything 
depended. 

At  the  same  moment  Kostshei  lost  his 
strength  and  power  forever.  Ivan  Tsare- 
vitch  entered  his  vast  dominions,  killed 
him  with  the  magic  needle,  and  in  one  of 
the  palaces  found  his  own  dear  wife,  his 
beautiful  Vassilissa.  He  took  her  home 
and  they  were  very  happy  ever  after. 


SEVEN   SIMEONS 

N  an  empire,  in  a  country 
beyond  many  seas  aad  isl- 
ands, beyond  high  moun- 
tains, beyond  large  rivers, 
upon  a  level  expanse,  as  if 
spread  upon  a  table,  there  stood  a  large 
town,  and  in  that  town  there  lived  a  Tsar 
called  Archidei,  the  son  of  Aggei ;  there- 
fore he  was  called  Aggeivitch. 

A  famous  Tsar  he  was,  and  a  clever 
one.  His  wealth  could  not  be  counted; 
his  warriors  were  innumerable.  There 
were  forty  times  forty  towns  in  his  king- 
dom, and  in  each  one  of  these  towns  there 
were  ten  palaces  with  silver  doors  and 
golden  ceilings  and  magnificent  crystal 
windows. 

For  his  council  twelve  wise  men  were 
selected,  each  one  of  them  having  a  beard 
half  a  yard  long  and  a  head  full  of  wis- 
dom. These  advisers  offered  nothing  but 
truth  to  their  father  sovereign ;  none  ever 
dared  advance  a  lie. 


28  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE   RUSSIAN 

How  could  such  a  Tsar  be  anything 
but  happy?  But  it  is  true,  indeed,  that 
neither  wealth  nor  wisdom  give  happi- 
ness when  the  heart  is  not  at  ease,  and 
even  in  golden  palaces  the  poor  heart 
often  aches. 

So  it  was  with  the  Tsar  Archidei ;  he 
was  rich  and  clever,  besides  being  a 
handsome  fellow;  but  he  could  not  find 
a  bride  to  his  taste,  a  bride  with  wit  and 
beauty  equal  to  his  own.  And  this  was 
the  cause  of  the  Tsar  Archidei's  sorrow 
and  distress. 

One  day  he  was  sitting  in  his  golden 
armchair  looking  out  of  the  window  lost 
in  thought.  He  had  gazed  for  quite  a 
while  before  he  noticed  foreign  sailors 
landing  opposite  the  imperial  palace. 
The  sailors  ran  their  ship  up  to  the 
wharf,  reefed  their  white  sails,  threw 
the  heavy  anchor  into  the  sea  and  pre- 
pared the  plank  ready  to  go  ashore.  Be- 
fore them  all  walked  an  old  merchant ; 
white  was  his  beard  and  he  had  about 
him  the  air  of  a  wise  man.  An  idea  sud- 
denly occurred  to  the  Tsar:  "Sea  mer- 
chants generally  are  well  informed  on 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  29 

many  subjects.  If  I  ask  them,  perchance 
I  shall  find  that  they  have  met  some- 
where a  princess,  beautiful  and  clever, 
suitable  for  me,  the  Tsar  Archidei." 

Without  delay  the  order  was  given  to 
call  the  sea  merchants  into  the  halls  of 
the  palace. 

The  merchant  guests  appeared,  prayed 
to  the  holy  icons  hanging  in  the  corner, 
bowed  to  the  Tsar,  bowed  to  the  wise 
advisers.  The  Tsar  ordered  his  servants 
to  serve  them  with  tumblers  of  strong 
green  wine.  The  guests  drank  the  strong 
green  wine  and  wiped  their  beards  with 
embroidered  towels.  Then  the  Tsar 
Archidei  addressed  them : 

"We  are  aware  that  you  gallant  sea 
merchants  cross  all  the  big  waters  and 
see  many  wonderful  things.  My  desire 
is  to  ask  you  about  something,  and  you 
must  give  a  straightforward  answer  with- 
out any  deceit  or  evasion." 

' '  So  be  it,  mighty  Tsar  Archidei  Aggei- 
vitch,"  answered  the  merchant  guests, 
bowing. 

' '  Well,  then,  can  you  tell  me  if  some- 
where in  an  empire  or  kingdom,  or  among 


30  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE   RUSSIAN 

great  princes,  there  is  a  maiden  as  beau- 
tiful and  wise  as  I  myself,  Tsar  Archidei ; 
an  illustrious  maiden  who  would  be  a 
proper  wife  for  me,  a  suitable  Tsaritza 
for  my  country?" 

The  merchant  guests  seemed  to  be 
puzzled,  and  after  a  long  silence  the  eld- 
est among  them  thus  replied  : 

' '  Indeed,  I  once  heard  that  yonder  be- 
yond the  great  sea,  on  an  island  called 
Buzan,  there  is  a  great  country;  and  the 
sovereign  of  that  land  has  a  daughter 
named  Helena,  a  princess  very  beautiful, 
not  less  so,  I  dare  say,  than  thyself.  And 
wise  she  is,  too ;  a  wise  man  once  tried 
for  three  years  to  guess  a  riddle  that  she 
gave,  and  did  not  succeed." 

' '  How  far  is  that  island,  pray  tell,  and 
where  are  the  roads  that  lead  to  it?" 

' '  The  island  is  not  near, "  answered  the 
old  merchant.  ' '  If  one  chooses  the  wide 
sea  he  must  journey  ten  years.  Besides, 
the  way  to  it  is  not  known  to  us.  More- 
over, even  suppose  we  did  know  the  way, 
it  seems  that  the  Princess  Helena  is  not 
a  bride  for  thee." 

The  Tsar  Archidei  shouted  with  anger : 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  31 

"How  dost  thou  dare  to  speak  such 
words,  thou,  a  long-bearded  buck?" 

' '  Thy  will  be  done,  but  think  for  thy- 
self. Suppose  thou  shouldst  send  an 
envoy  to  the  island  of  Buzan.  He  would 
require  ten  long  years  to  go  there,  ten 
years  equally  long  to  come  back,  and  so 
his  journey  would  require  fully  twenty 
years.  By  that  time  a  most  beautiful 
princess  would  grow  old — a  girl's  beauty 
is  like  the  swallow,  a  bird  of  passage ;  it 
lasts  not  long." 

The  Tsar  Archidei  became  thoughtful. 
"Well,"  he  said  to  the  merchant  guests, 
' '  you  have  my  thanks,  guests  of  passage, 
respectable  men  of  trade.  Go  in  God's 
name,  transact  business  in  my  tsarstvo 
without  any  taxes  whatever.  What  to 
do  about  the  beautiful  Princess  Helena 
I  will  try  to  think  out  by  myself." 

The  merchants  bowed  low  and  left  the 
Tsar's  rich  palace. 

The  Tsar  Archidei  sat  still,  wrapped 
in  thought,  but  he  could  find  neither  be- 
ginning nor  end  to  the  problem.  "Let 
me  ride  into  the  wide  fields,"  he  said  ; 
"let  me  forget  my  sorrow  amid  the 


32  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

excitement  of  the  noble  hunt,  hoping  that 
the  future  may  bring  advice." 

The  falconers  appeared,  cheerful  notes 
from  the  golden  trumpets  resounded,  and 
falcons  and  hawks  were  soon  slumbering 
under  their  velvet  caps  as  they  sat  quietly 
on  the  fingers  of  the  hunters. 

The  Tsar  Archidei  Aggeivitch  came 
with  his  men  to  a  wide,  wide  field.  All 
of  his  men  were  watching  the  moment  to 
loose  their  falcons  in  order  to  let  the  birds 
pursue  a  long-legged  heron  or  a  white- 
breasted  swan. 

Now,  you,  my  listeners,  must  under- 
stand that  the  fairy  tale  is  quick,  but  life 
is  not.  The  Tsar  Archidei  was  on  horse- 
back for  a  long  while,  and  finally  came 
to  a  green  valley.  Looking  around  he 
saw  a  well  cultivated  field  where  the 
golden  ears  of  the  grain  were  already 
ripe,  and  oh,  how  beautiful!  The  Tsar 
stopped  in  admiration. 

"I  presume,"  he  exclaimed,  "that 
good  workers  are  owners  of  this  place, 
honest  plowmen  and  diligent  sowers.  If 
only  all  fields  in  my  tsarstvo  were  equally 
cultivated,  my  people  need  never  know 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  33 

what  hunger  means,  and  there  would 
even  be  plenty  to  send  beyond  the  sea  to 
be  exchanged  for  silver  and  gold." 

Then  the  Tsar  Archidei  gave  orders  to 
inquire  who  the  owners  of  the  field  were, 
and  what  were  their  names.  Hunters, 
grooms,  and  servants  rushed  in  all  direc- 
tions, and  discovered  seven  brave  fellows, 
all  of  them  fair,  red-cheeked,  and  very 
handsome.  They  were  dining  according 
to  the  peasant  fashion,  which  means  that 
they  were  eating  rye  bread  with  onions, 
and  drinking  clear  water.  Their  blouses 
were  red,  with  a  golden  galloon  around 
the  neck,  and  they  were  so  much  alike 
that  one  could  hardly  be  recognized  from 
another. 

The  royal  messengers  approached. 

"Whose  field  is  this?"  they  asked; 
"this  field  with  golden  wheat?" 

The  seven  brave  peasants  answered 
cheerfully : 

"This  is  our  field;  we  plowed  it,  and 
we  also  have  sown  the  golden  wheat." 

"And  what  kind  of  people  are  you?" 

"We  are  the  Tsar  Archidei  Aggei- 
vitch's  peasants,  farmers,  and  we  are 


'Hunters,  grooms,  and  servants  rushed  in  all  directions' 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  35 

brothers,  sons  of  one  father  and  mother. 
The  name  for  all  of  us  is  Simeon,  so  you 
understand  we  are  seven  Simeons." 

This  answer  was  faithfully  delivered 
to  the  Tsar  Archidei  by  the  envoys,  and 
the  Tsar  at  once  desired  to  see  the  brave 
peasants,  and  ordered  them  to  be  called 
before  him.  The  seven  Simeons  pres- 
ently appeared  and  bowed.  The  Tsar 
looked  at  them  with  his  bright  eyes  and 
asked  them: 

' '  What  kind  of  people  are  you  whose 
field  is  so  well  cultivated?" 

One  of  the  seven  brothers,  the  eldest 
of  them,  answered: 

' '  We  are  all  thy  peasants,  simpletons, 
without  any  wisdom,  born  of  peasant 
parents,  all  of  us  children  of  the  same 
father  and  the  same  mother,  and  all  hav- 
ing the  same  name,  Simeon.  Our  old 
father  taught  us  to  pray  to  God,  to  obey 
thee,  to  pay  taxes  faithfully,  and  besides 
to  work  and  toil  without  rest.  He  also 
taught  to  each  of  us  a  trade,  for  the  old 
saying  is,  'A  trade  is  no  burden,  but  a 
profit.'  The  old  father  wished  us  to 
keep  our  trades  for  a  cloudy  day,  but 


36  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

never  to  forsake  our  own  fields,  and 
always  to  be  contented,  and  plow  and 
harrow  diligently. 

' '  He  also  used  to  say,  '  If  one  does  not 
neglect  the  mother  earth,  but  thoroughly 
harrows  and  sows  in  due  season,  then 
she,  our  mother,  will  reward  generously, 
and  will  give  plenty  of  bread,  besides 
preparing  a  soft  place  for  the  everlast- 
ing rest  when  one  is  old  and  tired  of 
life.'" 

The  Tsar  Archidei  liked  the  simple 
answer  of  the  peasant,  and  said : 

"Take  my  praise,  brave  good  fellows, 
my  peasants,  tillers  of  the  soil,  sowers  of 
wheat,  gatherers  of  gold.  And  now  tell 
me,  what  trades  did  your  father  teach 
you,  and  what  do  you  know  ? " 

The  first  Simeon  answered: 

"My  trade  is  not  a  very  wise  one.  If 
thou  wouldst  let  me  have  materials  and 
working  men,  then  I  could  build  a  post, 
a  white  stone  column,  reaching  beyond 
the  clouds,  almost  to  the  sky." 

"Good  enough!"  exclaimed  the  Tsar 
Archidei.  "And  thou,  the  second  Sim- 
eon, what  is  thy  trade  ?" 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  37 

The  second  Simeon  was  quick  to  give 
answer : 

"My  trade  is  a  simple  one.  If  my 
brother  will  build  a  white  stone  column, 
I  can  climb  upon  that  column  high  up  in 
the  sky,  and  I  shall  see  from  above  all  the 
empires  and  all  the  kingdoms  under  the 
sun,  and  everything  which  is  going  on  in 
those  foreign  countries." 

"Thy  trade  is  not  so  bad  either,"  and 
the  Tsar  smiled  and  looked  at  the  third 
brother.  ' '  And  thou,  third  Simeon,  what 
trade  is  thine?" 

The  third  Simeon  also  had  his  answer 
ready : 

"My  trade  is  simple,  too;  that  is  to 
say,  a  peasant's  trade.  If  thou  art  in 
need  of  ships,  thy  learned  men  of  foreign 
birth  build  them  for  thee  as  well  as  their 
wisdom  teaches  them.  But  if  thou  wilt 
order,  I  will  build  them  simply — one, 
two  !  and  the  ship  is  ready.  My  ships 
will  be  the  result  of  the  quick  headwork 
of  a  peasant  simpleton.  But  where  a 
foreign  ship  sails  a  year,  mine  will  sail 
an  hour,  and  where  others  take  ten  years, 
mine  will  take  not  longer  than  a  week." 


Jc?  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

' '  Well,  well ! "  laughed  the  Tsar.  '  'And 
thy  trade,  the  fourth  Simeon  ?"  he  asked. 

The  fourth  brother  bowed. 

"My  trade  needs  no  wisdom  either. 
If  my  brother  will  build  thee  a  ship,  I 
then  will  sail  that  ship  ;  and  if  an  enemy 
gives  chase  or  a  tempest  rises,  I'll  seize 
the  ship  by  the  black  prow  and  plunge 
her  into  the  deep  waters  where  there  is 
eternal  quiet ;  and  after  the  storm  is  over 
or  the  enemy  far,  I'll  again  guide  her  to 
the  surface  of  the  wide  sea." 

"Good!"  approved  the  Tsar.  "And 
thou,  fifth  Simeon,  what  dost  thou  know  ? 
Hast  thou  also  a  trade  ?" 

' '  My  trade,  Tsar  Archidei  Aggeivitch, 
is  not  a  fair  one,  for  I  am  a  blacksmith. 
If  thou  wouldst  order  a  shop  built  for  me, 
I  at  once  would  forge  a  self-shooting  gun, 
and  no  eagle  far  above  in  the  sky  or  wild 
beast  in  the  wood  would  be  safe  from  that 
gun." 

"Not  bad  either,"  answered  the  Tsar 
Archidei,  well  pleased.  "Thy  turn  now, 
sixth  Simeon." 

"  My  trade  is  no  trade,"  answered  the 
sixth  Simeon,  rather  humbly.  "If  my 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  39 

brother  shoots  a  bird  or  a  beast,  never 
mind  what  or  where,  I  can  catch  it  before 
it  falls  down,  catch  it  even  better  than  a 
hunting  dog.  If  the  prey  should  fall  into 
the  blue  sea,  I'll  find  it  at  the  sea's  bot- 
tom ;  should  it  fall  into  the  depth  of  the 
dark  woods,  I'll  find  it  there  in  the  midst 
of  night ;  should  it  get  caught  in  a  cloud, 
I'll  find  it  even  there." 

The  Tsar  Archidei  evidently  liked  the 
trade  of  the  sixth  Simeon  very  well  also. 
These  were  all  simple  trades,  you  see, 
without  any  wisdom  whatever,  but  rather 
entertaining.  The  Tsar  also  liked  the 
peasants'  speech,  and  he  said  to  them  : 

"Thanks,  my  peasants,  tillers  of  the 
soil,  my  faithful  workers.  Your  father's 
words  are  true  ones  :  'A  trade  is  not  a 
burden,  but  a  profit.'  Now  come  to  my 
capital  for  a  trial;  people  like  you  are 
welcome.  And  when  the  season  for  har- 
vest arrives,  the  time  to  reap,  to  bind 
in  bundles  the  golden  grain,  to  thresh 
and  carry  the  wheat  to  the  market,  I 
will  let  you  go  home  with  my  royal 
grace/' 

Then  all  the  seven  Simeons  bowed 


40  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

very  low.  "Thine  is  the  will,"  said  they, 
"and  we  are  thy  obedient  subjects." 

Here  the  Tsar  Archidei  looked  at  the 
youngest  Simeon  and  remembered  that 
he  had  not  asked  him  about  his  trade.  So 
he  said:  "And  thou,  seventh  Simeon, 
what  is  thy  trade?" 

"I  have  none,  Tsar  Archidei  Aggei- 
vitch.  I  learned  many,  but  not  a  single 
one  did  me  any  good,  and  though  I  know 
something  very  well,  I  am  not  sure  your 
majesty  would  like  it." 

"Let  us  know  thy  secret,"  ordered  the 
Tsar  Archidei. 

"No,  Tsar  Archidei  Aggeivitch  !  Give 
me,  first  of  all,  thy  royal  word  not  to  kill 
me  for  my  inborn  talent,  but  to  have 
mercy  upon  me.  Then  only  will  I  be 
willing  to  disclose  my  secret." 

' '  Thy  wish  is  granted.  I  give  thee  my 
royal  word,  true  and  not  to  be  broken, 
that  whatever  thou  shalt  disclose  to  me, 
I  will  have  mercy  upon  thee." 

Hearing  these  kind  words,  the  seventh 
Simeon  smiled,  looked  around,  shook  his 
curls  and  began : 

' '  My  trade  is  one  for  which  there  is 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  41 

no  mercy  in  thy  tsarstvo,  and  it  is  the  one 
thing  I  am  able  to  do.  My  trade  is  to 
steal  and  to  hide  the  trace  of  how  and 
when.  There  is  no  treasure,  no  fortunate 
possession,  not  even  a  bewitched  one,  nor 
a  secret  place  that  could  be  forbidden  me 
if  it  be  my  wish  to  steal." 

As  soon  as  these  bold  words  of  the 
seventh  Simeon  reached  the  Tsar's  ears 
he  became  very  angry. 

"  No ! "  he  exclaimed, "  I  certainly  shall 
not  pardon  thee,  thief  and  burglar  !  I 
will  give  orders  for  thy  cruel  death  !  I 
will  have  thee  chained  and  thrown  into 
my  subterranean  prison  with  nothing  but 
bread  and  water  for  food  until  thou  for- 
get thy  trade  !" 

"Great  and  merciful  Tsar  Archidei 
Aggeivitch,  postpone  thy  orders.  Listen 
to  my  peasant  talk,"  prayed  the  seventh 
Simeon.  "Our  old  Russian  saying  is: 
'He  is  no  thief  who  is  not  caught,  and 
neither  is  he  who  steals,  but  the  one  who 
instigates  the  theft.'  If  my  wish  had 
been  to  steal,  I  should  have  done  it  long 
ago.  I  should  have  stolen  thy  treasures 
and  thy  judges  would  not  have  objected 


42  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

to  take  a  small  share  of  them,  and  I  could 
have  built  a  white-walled  stone  palace 
and  have  been  rich.  But,  mark  this  :  I 
am  a  stupid  peasant  of  low  origin.  I 
know  well  enough  how  to  steal,  but  will 
not.  If  thy  wish  were  to  learn  my  trade, 
how  could  I  keep  it  from  thee?  And  if 
thou,  for  this  sincere  acknowledgment, 
wilt  have  me  put  to  death,  then  what  is 
the  value  of  thy  royal  word  ?" 

The  Tsar  thought  a  moment.  "For 
this  time,"  he  said,  "I  will  not  let  thee 
die,  for  it  pleases  me  to  grant  thee  my 
grace.  But  from  this  very  day,  this  very 
hour,  thou  never  shalt  see  God's  light 
nor  the  bright  sunshine  nor  the  silvery 
moon.  Thou  shalt  never  walk  at  liberty 
through  the  wide  fields,  but  thou,  my 
dear  guest,  shalt  dwell  in  a  palace  where 
no  sunny  ray  ever  penetrates.  You,  my 
servants,  take  him,  chain  his  hands  and 
his  feet  and  lead  him  to  my  chief  jailor. 
And  you  six  Simeons  follow  me.  You 
have  my  grace  and  reward.  To-morrow 
every  one  of  you  will  begin  to  work  for 
me  according  to  his  gifts  and  capacities." 

The  six  Simeons  followed  the  Tsar 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  43 

Archidei,  and  the  seventh  brother,  the 
youngest,  the  beloved  one,  was  fallen 
upon  by  the  servants,  taken  away  to  the 
dark  prison  and  heavily  chained. 

The  Tsar  Archidei  ordered  carpenters 
to  be  sent  to  the  first  Simeon,  as  well  as 
masons  and  blacksmiths  and  all  sorts  of 
workingmen.  He  also  ordered  a  supply 
of  bricks,  stones,  iron,  clay,  and  cement. 
Without  any  delay,  Simeon,  the  first 
brother,  began  to  build  a  column,  and 
according  to  his  simple  peasant's  habits 
his  work  progressed  rapidly,  and  not  a 
moment  was  wasted  in  clever  combina- 
tions. In  a  short  time  the  white  column 
was  ready,  and  lo,  how  high  it  went !  as 
high  as  the  great  planets.  The  smaller 
stars  were  beneath  it,  and  from  above 
the  people  seemed  to  be  like  bugs. 

The  second  Simeon  climbed  the  col- 
umn, looked  around,  listened  to  all 
sounds,  and  came  down.  The  Tsar 
Archidei,  anxious  to  know  about  every- 
thing under  the  sun,  ordered  him  to 
report,  and  Simeon  did  so.  He  told  the 
Tsar  Archidei  all  the  wonderful  doings 
all  over  the  world.  He  told  how  one 


44  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

king  was  fighting  another,  where  there 
was  war  and  where  there  was  peace,  and 
with  other  things  the  second  Simeon 
even  mentioned  deep  secrets,  quite  sur- 
prising secrets,  which  made  the  Tsar 
Archidei  smile ;  and  the  courtiers,  en- 
couraged by  the  royal  smile,  roared  with 
laughter. 

Meantime  the  third  Simeon  was  ac- 
complishing something  in  his  line.  After 
crossing  himself  three  times  the  fellow 
rolled  up  his  sleeves  to  the  elbow,  took 
a  hatchet  and  —  one,  two — without  any 
haste  built  a  vessel.  What  a  curious 
vessel  it  was !  The  Tsar  Archidei  watched 
the  wonderful  structure  from  the  shore 
and  as  soon  as  the  orders  were  given  for 
sailing,  the  new  vessel  sailed  away  like  a 
white-winged  hawk.  The  cannon  were 
shooting  and  upon  the  masts,  instead  of 
rigging,  were  drawn  strings  upon  which 
musicians  were  playing  the  national 
tunes. 

As  soon  as  the  wonderful  vessel  sailed 
into  deep  water,  the  fourth  Simeon 
snatched  the  prow  and  no  trace  of  it  re- 
mained on  the  surface ;  the  whole  vessel 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  45 

went  to  the  depths  like  a  heavy  stone. 
In  an  hour  or  so  Simeon,  with  his  left 
hand,  led  the  ship  to  the  blue  surface  of 
the  sea  again,  and  with  his  right  he  pre- 
sented to  the  Tsar  a  most  magnificent 
sturgeon  for  his  ' '  kulibiaka, "  the  famous 
Russian  fish  pie. 

While  the  Tsar  Archidei  enjoyed  him- 
self with  looking  at  the  marvelous  vessel, 
the  fifth  Simeon  built  a  blacksmith  shop 
in  the  court  back  of  the  palace.  There 
he  blew  the  bellows  and  heated  the  iron. 
The  noise  from  his  hammers  was  great 
and  the  result  of  his  peasant  work  was 
a  self-shooting  gun.  The  Tsar  Archidei 
Aggeivitch  went  to  the  wild  fields  and 
perceived  high  above  him,  very  high 
under  the  sky,  an  eagle  flying. 

"Now!"  exclaimed  the  Tsar,  "there 
is  an  eagle  forgetting  himself  with  watch- 
ing the  sun;  shoot  it.  Perchance  thou 
shalt  have  the  good  luck  to  hit  it.  Then 
I  will  honor  thee." 

Simeon  shook  his  locks,  smiled,  put 
into  his  gun  a  silver  bullet,  aimed,  shot, 
and  the  eagle  fell  swiftly  to  the  earth. 
The  sixth  Simeon  did  not  even  allow  the 


46     FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

eagle  to  fall  to  the  ground,  but,  quick  as 
a  flash,  he  ran  under  it  with  a  plate, 
caught  it  on  that  big  plate  and  presented 
his  prey  to  the  Tsar  Archidei. 

"Thanks,  thanks,  my  brave  fellows, 
faithful  peasants,  tillers  of  the  soil !"  ex- 
claimed the  Tsar  Archidei  gayly.  ' '  I  see 
now  plainly  that  all  of  you  are  men  of 
trade  and  I  wish  to  reward  you.  But 
now  go  to  your  dinner  and  rest  awhile." 

The  six  Simeons  bowed  to  the  Tsar 
very  low,  prayed  to  the  holy  icons  and 
went.  They  were  already  seated,  had 
time  to  swallow  each  one  a  tumbler  of 
the  strong,  green  wine,  took  up  the  round 
wooden  spoons  in  order  to  attack  the 
"stchi,"  the  Russian  cabbage  soup,  when 
lo  !  the  Tsar's  fool  came  running  and 
shaking  his  striped  cap  with  the  round 
bells  and  shouted : 

' '  You  ignorant  simpletons,  unlearned 
peasants,  moujiks  !  Is  it  a  suitable  mo- 
ment for  dinner  when  the  Tsar  wants 
you  ?  Go  in  haste  ! " 

All  the  six  started  running  toward 
the  palace,  thinking  within  themselves : 
"What  can  have  happened?"  In  front 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  47 

of  the  palace  stood  the  guards  with  their 
iron  staves ;  in  the  halls  all  the  wise  and 
learned  people  were  gathered  together, 
and  the  Tsar  himself  was  sitting  on 
his  high  throne  looking  very  grim  and 
thoughtful. 

"Listen  to  me,"  he  said  when  the 
peasants  approached,  "you,  my  brave 
fellows,  my  clever  brothers  Simeon.  I 
like  your  trades  and  I  think,  as  do  my 
wise  advisers,  that  if  thou,  the  second 
Simeon,  art  able  to  see  everything  going 
on  under  the  sun,  thou  shouldst  climb 
quickly  on  yonder  column  and  glance 
around  to  see  if  there  is,  as  they  say, 
beyond  the  great  sea  an  island,  Buzan  by 
name.  And  see  if  on  that  island,  as  men 
assert,  there  is  a  mighty  kingdom,  and  in 
that  kingdom  a  mighty  king,  and  if  that 
king,  as  the  story  goes,  has  a  daughter, 
the  most  beautiful  princess  Helena." 

The  second  Simeon  bowed  and  ran 
quickly,  even  forgetting  to  put  on  his 
cap.  He  went  straight  to  the  column, 
climbed  it,  looked  around,  came  down, 
and  this  was  his  report : 

"Tsar  Archidei  Aggeivitch,    I    have 


4&  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

accomplished  thy  sovereign  wish.  I 
looked  far  beyond  the  sea  and  have  seen 
the  island  Buzan.  Mighty  is  the  king 
there,  and  he  is  proud  and  merciless.  He 
sits  within  his  palace  and  his  speech  is 
always  the  same : 

"  '  I  am  a  great  king  and  I  have  a  most 
beautiful  daughter,  the  princess  Helena. 
There  is  no  one  in  the  universe  more 
beautiful  and  more  wise  than  she ;  there 
is  no  bridegroom  worthy  of  her  in  any 
place  under  the  bright  sun,  no  tsar,  no 
king,  no  tsarevitch,  no  korolevitch.  To 
no  one  will  I  ever  give  my  daughter,  the 
princess  Helena,  and  whoever  shall  dare 
to  court  her,  on  such  an  one  will  I  declare 
war,  ruin  his  country,  and  capture  him- 
self.'" 

"And  how  great  is  the  army  of  that 
king?"  asked  the  Tsar  Archidei;  "and 
also  how  far  is  his  kingdom  from  my 
tsarstvo?" 

"Well,  according  to  the  measure  of 
my  eyes,"  answered  Simeon,  "I  fancy  it 
would  take  a  ship  ten  years  less  two 
days;  or,  if  it  happened  to  be  stormy,  I 
am  afraid  even  a  little  longer  than  ten 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  49 

years.  And  that  king  has  not  a  small 
army.  I  have  seen  altogether  a  hundred 
thousand  spearmen,  a  hundred  thousand 
armed  men,  and  a  hundred  thousand  or 
more  could  be  gathered  from  the  Tsar's 
court,  from  his  servants  and  all  kinds  of 
underlings.  Besides,  there  is  no  small 
armament  of  guards  held  in  reserve  for  a 
special  occasion,  fed  and  petted  by  the 
king." 

The  Tsar  Archidei  remained  for  a  long 
time  in  thoughtful  silence  and  finally 
addressed  his  court  people : 

' '  My  warriors  and  advisers :  I  have 
but  one  wish ;  I  want  the  princess  Helena 
for  my  wife.  But  tell  me,  how  can  I 
reach  her?" 

The  wise  advisers  remained  silent, 
hiding  themselves  behind  each  other. 
The  third  Simeon  looked  around,  bowed 
to  the  Tsar,  and  said : 

"Tsar  Archidei  Aggeivitch,  forgive 
my  simple  words.  How  to  reach  the 
island  of  Buzan  there  is  no  need  to  worry 
about.  Sit  down  on  my  ship ;  she  is 
simply  built,  and  equipped  without  any 
wise  tricks.  Where  others  require  a 


SO  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

year  she  takes  but  a  day,  and  where 
other  ships  take  ten  years  mine  will  take, 
let  us  say,  a  week.  Only  order  thine 
advisers  to  decide  whether  we  ought  to 
fight  for  or  peacefully  court  the  beautiful 
princess." 

"Now,  my  warriors  brave,  my  advis- 
ers sage,"  spoke  the  Tsar  Archidei  to  his 
men,  "how  will  yon  decide  upon  this 
matter?  Who  among  you  will  go  to  fight 
for  the  princess,  or  who  will  be  shrewd 
enough  to  bring  her  peacefully  here?  I 
will  pour  gold  and  silver  over  that  one. 
I  will  give  to  him  the  first  rank  among 
the  very  first." 

And  again  the  brave  warriors  and  the 
sage  advisers  remained  silent.  The  Tsar 
grew  angry ;  he  seemed  to  be  ready  for 
a  terrible  word.  Then,  as  if  somebody 
had  asked  the  fool,  out  he  jumped  from 
behind  the  wise  people  with  his  foolish 
talk,  shook  his  striped  fool's  cap,  rang 
his  many  bells,  and  shouted  : 

"Why  so  silent,  wise  men?  why  so 
deep  in  thought?  You  have  big  heads 
and  long  beards ;  it  would  seem  that 
there  is  plenty  of  wisdom,  so  why  not 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  51 

show  it?  To  go  to  the  island  of  Buzan 
to  obtain  the  bride  does  not  mean  to  lose 
gold  or  army.  Have  you  already  forgot- 
ten the  seventh  Simeon?  Why,  it  will  be 
simple  enough  for  him  to  steal  the  prin- 
cess Helena.  Afterwards  let  the  king  of 
Buzan  come  here  to  fight  us,  and  we  will 
welcome  him  as  an  honored  guest.  But 
do  not  forget  that  he  must  take  ten  years' 
time  to  reach  us,  and  in  ten  years — ah 
me!  I  have  heard  that  some  wise  man 
somewhere  undertook  to  teach  a  horse  to 
talk  in  ten  years  !  " 

"Good!  Good!"  exclaimed  the  Tsar 
Archidei,  forgetting  even  his  anger.  "I 
thank  thee,  striped  fool.  I  certainly 
shall  reward  thee.  Thou  must  have  a 
new  cap  with  noisy  bells,  and  each  one 
of  thy  children  a  ginger  pancake.  You, 
faithful  servants,  run  quickly  and  bring 
here  the  seventh  Simeon." 

According  to  the  Tsar's  bidding  the 
heavy  iron  gates  of  the  dark  prison  were 
thrown  open,  the  heavy  chains  were 
taken  off  and  the  seventh  Simeon  ap- 
peared before  the  eager  eyes  of  the  Tsar 
Archidei,  who  thus  addressed  him  : 


52  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

"Listen  to  me  attentively,  thou  sev- 
enth Simeon,  for  I  had  almost  decided  to 
grant  thee  a  high  honor ;  to  keep  thee 
thy  life  long  in  my  prison.  But  if  thou 
shouldst  prove  useful  to  me,  then  will  I 
give  thee  freedom;  and  besides,  thou 
shalt  have  a  share  out  of  my  treasures. 
Art  thou  able  to  steal  the  beautiful  prin- 
cess Helena  from  her  father,  the  mighty 
king  of  the  island  of  Buzan?" 

"And  why  not?"  cheerfully  laughed 
the  seventh  Simeon.  "There  is  nothing 
difficult  about  it.  She  is  not  a  pearl,  and 
I  presume  she  is  not  under  too  many 
locks.  Only  order  the  ship  which  my 
brother  had  built  for  thee  to  be  loaded 
with  velvets  and  brocades,  with  Persian 
rugs,  beautiful  pearls  and  precious  stones, 
and  bid  my  four  brothers  come  along 
with  me.  But  the  two  eldest  keep  thou 
as  hostages." 

Once  said,  quickly  done.  The  Tsar 
Archidei  gave  orders  while  all  were  run- 
ning hither  and  thither,  and  everything 
was  finished  so  promptly  that  a  short- 
haired  girl  would  scarcely  have  had  time 
to  plait  her  hair.  The  ship,  laden  with 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  53 

velvets,  brocades,  with  Persian  rugs  and 
pearls,  and  costly  precious  stones,  was 
ready ;  the  five  brothers,  the  brave  Sim- 
eons, were  ready ;  they  bowed  to  the 
Tsar,  spread  sail,  and  disappeared. 

The  ship  floated  swiftly  over  the  blue 
waters ;  she  flew  like  a  hawk  in  com- 
parison with  the  slow  merchant  vessels, 
and  in  a  week  after  the  five  Simeons  had 
left  their  native  land  they  sighted  the 
island  of  Buzan. 

The  island  appeared  to  be  surrounded 
with  cannon  as  thick  as  peas  ;  the  gigan- 
tic guards  walked  up  and  down  the 
shores  tugging  fiercely  at  their  big  mus- 
taches. As  soon  as  the  ship  became 
visible  from  a  tower  somebody  shouted 
through  a  Dutch  trumpet : 

' '  Stop  !  Answer  !  What  kind  of  peo- 
ple are  ye  ?  Why  come  ye  here  ? " 

The  seventh  Simeon  answered  from 
the  ship :  ' '  We  are  a  peaceful  people,  not 
enemies  but  friends,  merchants  every- 
where welcomed  as  guests.  We  bring 
foreign  merchandise.  We  want  to  sell,  to 
buy,  and  to  exchange.  We  also  have  gifts 
for  your  king  and  for  the  korolevna." 


54  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

The  five  brothers,  our  brave  Simeons, 
lowered  the  boat,  loaded  it  with  choice 
Venetian  velvets,  brocades,  pearls,  and 
precious  stones,  and  covered  all  with 
Persian  rugs.  They  rowed  to  the  wharf, 
and  landing  near  the  king's  palace,  at 
once  carried  their  gifts  to  the  king. 

The  beautiful  korolevna  Helena  was 
sitting  in  her  terem.  She  was  a  fair 
maiden  with  eyes  like  stars  and  eye- 
brows like  precious  sable.  When  she 
looked  at  one  it  was  like  receiving  a 
gift,  and  when  she  walked  it  was  like 
the  graceful  swimming  of  a  swan.  The 
korolevna  was  quick  to  notice  the  brave,  • 
handsome  brothers  and  at  once  called 
her  nurses  and  maidens. 

' '  Hasten,  my  dear  nurses,  and  you, 
swift  maidens,  find  out  what  kind  of 
strangers  are  these  coming  to  our  royal 
palace. " 

All  of  the  nurses,  all  of  the  maidens, 
ran  out  with  questions  ready.  The  sev- 
enth Simeon  answered  them  thus  : 

"We  are  merchant  guests,  peaceful 
people.  Our  native  land  is  the  country 
of  the  Tsar  Archidei  Aggeivitch,  a  great 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  55 

Tsar  indeed.  We  came  to  sell,  to  buy, 
to  exchange;  moreover,  we  have  gifts  for 
the  king  and  his  princess.  We  do  hope 
the  king  will  favor  us  and  will  accept 
these  trifles;  if  not  for  himself,  at  least 
for  the  adornment  of  his  court's  lovely 
maidens." 

When  Helena  heard  these  words  she 
at  once  let  the  merchants  in.  And  the 
merchants  appeared,  bowed  low  to  the 
beautiful  korolevna,  unfolded  the  showy 
velvets  and  golden  brocades,  strewed 
around  the  pearls  and  precious  stones, 
such  stones  and  pearls  as  had  never  been 
seen  before  in  Buzan.  The  nurses  and 
the  maidens  opened  their  mouths  in 
amazement,  and  the  korolevna  herself 
seemed  to  be  greatly  pleased.  The  sev- 
enth Simeon,  quick  to  understand,  smiled 
and  said  : 

"We  all  know  thee  to  be  as  wise  as 
beautiful,  but  now  thou  art  evidently 
joking  about  us  or  mocking  us.  These 
simple  wares  are  altogether  too  plain  for 
thine  own  use.  Accept  them  for  thy 
nurses  and  maidens  for  their  everyday 
attire,  and  these  stones  send  away  to  the 


56  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

kitchen  boys  to  play  with.  But  if  thou 
wilt  listen  to  me,  let  me  say  that  on  our 
ship  we  have  very  different  velvets  and 
brocades ;  we  have  also  precious  stones, 
far  more  precious  than  any  one  has  ever 
seen ;  yet  we  dared  not  bring  them  at 
once  lest  we  might  not  suit  thy  temper 
and  thy  hearty  wish.  If  thou  shouldst 
decide  to  come  in  person  and  choose  any- 
thing from  among  our  possessions,  they 
all  are  thine  and  we  bow  to  thee  grate- 
fully for  the  bright  glance  of  thy  beauti- 
ful eyes." 

The  royal  maid  liked  well  enough 
these  polite  words  of  the  handsome  Sim- 
eon, and  to  her  father  she  went : 

' '  Father  and  king,  there  have  come  to 
visit  us  some  foreign  merchants  and  they 
have  brought  some  goods  never  before 
seen  in  Buzan.  Give  me  thy  permission 
to  go  on  board  their  wonderful  ship  to 
choose  what  things  I  like.  They  also 
have  rich  gifts  for  thee." 

The  king  hesitated  before  answering 
her,  frowning  and  scratching  behind  his 
ear. 

"Well,"  he  said  at  last,  "be  it  accord- 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  57 

ing  to  thy  wish,  my  daughter,  my  beauti- 
ful korolevna.  And  you,  my  counselors, 
order  my  royal  vessel  to  be  ready,  the  can- 
nons loaded,  and  a  hundred  of  my  bravest 
warriors  detailed  to  escort  the  vessel. 
Send  besides  a  thousand  heavy  armed 
warriors  to  guard  the  korolevna  on  her 
way  to  the  merchants'  vessel." 

Then  the  king's  vessel  started  from  the 
island  of  Buzan.  Numbers  of  cannon 
and  warriors  protected  the  princess,  and 
the  royal  father  remained  quiet  at  home. 

When  they  reached  the  merchants' 
ship  the  korolevna  Helena  came  down, 
and  at  once  the  crystal  bridge  was  placed 
and  the  korolevna  with  all  her  nurses 
and  maidens  went  on  board  the  foreign 
ship,  such  a  ship  as  they  had  never  seen 
before,  never  even  dreamed  of.  Mean- 
while the  guards  kept  watch. 

The  seventh  Simeon  showed  the 
lovely  guests  everywhere.  He  was  talk- 
ing smoothly  while  leisurely  unfolding 
his  precious  goods.  The  korolevna  lis- 
tened attentively,  looked  around  curi- 
ously, and  seemed  well  pleased. 

At   the   same   moment   the   fourth 


58  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

Simeon,  watching  the  proper  moment, 
snapped  the  prow  and  down  to  mysteri- 
ous depths  went  the  ship  where  no  one 
could  see  her.  The  people  on  the  king's 
vessel  screamed  in  terror,  the  warriors 
looked  like  drunken  fools,  and  the  guards 
only  opened  their  eyes  wider  than  before. 
What  should  they  do?  They  directed  the 
vessel  back  to  the  island  and  appeared 
before  the  king  with  their  terrible  tale. 

"Oh,  my  daughter,  my  darling  prin- 
cess Helena !  It  is  God  who  punishes 
me  for  my  pride.  I  never  wanted  thee 
to  marry.  No  king,  no  prince,  would  I 
consider  worthy  of  thee;  and  now — oh! 
now  I  know  that  thou  art  wedded  to  the 
deep  sea !  As  for  me,  I  am  left  alone  for 
the  rest  of  my  sorrowful  days." 

Then  all  at  once  he  looked  around 
and  shouted  to  his  men  : 

' '  You  fools  !  what  were  you  thinking 
about  ?  You  shall  all  lose  your  heads ! 
Guards,  throw  them  into  dungeons!  The 
most  cruel  death  shall  be  theirs,  such  a 
death  that  the  children  of  their  great- 
grandchildren shall  shiver  to  hear  the 
tale!" 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  59 

Now,  while  the  king  of  Buzan  raved 
and  grieved,  the  ship  of  the  brothers 
Simeon,  like  a  golden  fish,  swam  under 
the  blue  waters,  and  when  the  island  was 
lost  from  sight  the  fourth  Simeon  brought 
her  to  the  surface  and  she  rose  upon  the 
waters  like  a  white-winged  gull.  By  this 
time  the  princess  was  becoming  anxious 
about  the  long  time  they  were  away 
from  home,  and  she  exclaimed  : 

"Nurses  and  maidens,  we  are  leisurely 
looking  around,  but  I  fancy  my  father 
the  king  finds  the  time  sadly  long."  She 
hastily  walked  to  the  deck  of  the  ship, 
and  behold  !  —  only  the  wide  sea  was 
around  her  like  a  mirror !  Where  was 
her  native  island,  where  the  royal  vessel? 
There  was  nothing  visible  but  the  blue 
sea.  The  princess  screamed,  struck  her 
white  bosom  with  both  hands,  trans- 
formed herself  into  a  white  swan  and 
flew  high  into  the  sky.  But  the  fifth 
Simeon,  watching  closely,  lost  no  time, 
snapped  his  lucky  gun  and  the  white 
swan  was  shot.  His  brother,  the  sixth 
Simeon,  caught  the  white  swan,  but  lo  ! 
instead  of  the  white  swan  there  was  a 


60  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

silvery  fish,  which  slipped  away  from 
him.  Simeon  caught  the  fish,  but  the 
pretty,  silvery  fish  turned  into  a  small 
mouse  running  around  the  ship.  Simeon 
did  not  let  it  reach  a  hole,  but  swifter 
than  a  cat  caught  the  mouse, — and  the 
princess  Helena,  as  beautiful  and  natural 
as  before,  appeared  before  them,  fair- 
faced,  bright-eyed. 

On  a  lovely  morning  a  week  later  the 
Tsar  Archidei  was  sitting  by  the  window 
of  his  palace  lost  in  thought.  His  eyes 
were  turned  toward  the  sea,  the  wide, 
blue  sea.  He  was  sad  at  heart  and  could 
not  eat ;  feasts  had  no  interest  for  him, 
the  costly  dishes  had  no  taste,  the  honey 
drink  seemed  weak.  All  his  thoughts 
and  longings  were  for  the  princess 
Helena,  the  beautiful  one,  the  only  one. 

What  is  that  far  away  upon  the  waters  ? 
Is  it  a  white  gull?  Or  are  those  white 
wings  not  wings,  but  sails  ?  No,  it  is  not 
a  gull,  but  the  ship  of  the  brothers  Sim- 
eon, and  she  approaches  as  rapidly  as  the 
wind  which  blows  her  sails.  The  cannon 
boom,  native  melodies  are  played  on  the 
cords  of  the  masts.  Soon  the  ship  is 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  6l 

anchored,  the  crystal  bridge  prepared, 
and  the  korolevna  Helena,  the  beautiful 
princess,  appears  like  a  never-setting 
sun,  her  eyes  like  bright  stars,  and  oh ! 
how  happy  is  the  Tsar  Archidei ! 

' '  Run  quick,  my  faithful  servants,  you 
brave  officers  of  state,  and  you,  too,  my 
bodyguard,  and  all  you  useful  and  orna- 
mental fellows  of  my  palace,  run  and 
prepare,  shoot  off  rockets  and  ring  the 
bells  in  order  to  give  a  joyful  welcome 
to  korolevna  Helena,  the  beautiful." 

All  hastened  to  their  tasks,  to  shoot, 
to  ring  the  bells,  to  open  the  gates,  to 
honorably  receive  the  korolevna.  The 
Tsar  himself  came  out  to  meet  the  beau- 
tiful princess,  took  her  white  hands  and 
helped  her  into  the  palace. 

"Welcome!  welcome !"  said  the  Tsar 
Archidei.  ' '  Thy  fame,  korolevna  Helena, 
reached  me,  but  never  could  I  imagine 
such  beauty  as  is  thine.  Yet,  though  I 
admire  thee,  I  do  not  want  to  separate 
thee  from  thy  father.  Say  the  word  and 
my  faithful  servants  will  take  thee  back 
to  him.  If  thou  choosest,  however,  to 
remain  in  my  tzarstvo,  be  the  tsaritza 


62     FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

over  my  country  and  rule  over  me,  the 
Tzar  Archidei,  also." 

At  these  words  of  the  Tsar  the  koro- 
levna  Helena  threw  such  a  glance  at  the 
Tsar  that  it  seemed  to  him  the  sun  was 
laughing,  the  moon  singing,  and  the  stars 
dancing  all  around. 

Well,  what  more  is  there  to  be  said? 
You  certainly  can  imagine  the  rest.  The 
courtship  was  not  long  and  the  wedding 
feast  was  soon  ready,  for  you  know  kings 
always  have  everything  at  their  com- 
mand. The  brothers  Simeon  were  at 
once  dispatched  to  the  king  of  Buzan 
with  a  message  from  the  korolevna,  his 
daughter,  and  this  is  what  she  wrote  : 

"Dear  father,  mighty  king  and  sover- 
eign :  I  have  found  a  husband  according 
to  my  heart's  wish  and  I  am  asking  thy 
fatherly  blessing.  My  bridegroom,  the 
Tsar  Archidei  Aggeivitch,  sends  his  coun- 
selors to  thee,  begging  thee  to  come  to 
our  wedding." 

At  the  very  moment  when  the  mer- 
chant ship  was  to  land  at  the  island  of 
Buzan,  crowds  of  people  had  gathered  to 
witness  the  execution  of  the  unfortunate 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  63 

guards  and  brave  warriors  whose  ill-luck 
it  was  to  have  allowed  the  princess  to 
disappear. 

"Stop!"  Simeon  the  seventh  shouted 
aloud  from  the  deck.  "We  bring  a  mis- 
sive from  the  korolevna  Helena.  Holla !" 

Very  glad  indeed  was  the  king  of  the 
island  of  Buzan,  and  glad  were  all  his 
subjects.  The  missive  was  read  and  the 
condemned  were  pardoned. 

' '  Evidently, "  the  king  said,  ' '  it  is  fated 
that  the  handsome  and  witty  Tsar  Arch- 
idei  and  my  beautiful  daughter  are  to 
become  husband  and  wife." 

Then  the  king  treated  the  envoys  and 
the  brothers  Simeon  very  well  and  sent 
his  blessings  with  them,  as  he  himself  did 
not  wish  to  go,  being  very  old.  The  ship 
soon  returned  and  the  Tsar  Archidei 
rejoiced  over  it  with  his  beautiful  bride, 
and  at  once  summoned  the  seven  Sime- 
ons, the  seven  brave  peasants. 

He  said  to  them :  ' '  Thanks  !  thanks ! 
my  peasants,  my  brave  tillers  of  the  soil. 
Take  as  much  gold  as  you  wish.  Take 
silver  also  and  ask  for  whatever  is  your 
heart's  desire.  Everything  shall  be  given 


64  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

you  with  my  mighty  hand.  Would  you 
like  to  become  boyars,  you  shall  be  the 
greatest  among  the  very  great.  Do  you 
choose  to  become  governors,  each  one 
shall  have  a  town." 

The  first  Simeon  bowed  to  the  Tsar 
and  cheerfully  answered : 

"Thanks  also  to  thee,  Tsar  Archidei 
Aggeivitch.  We  are  but  simple  people 
and  simple  are  our  ways.  It  would  not  do 
for  us  to  become  boyars  or  governors.  We 
do  not  care  for  thy  treasures  either.  We 
have  our  own  father's  field,  which  shall 
always  give  us  bread  for  hunger  and 
money  for  need.  Let  us  go  home,  taking 
with  us  thy  gracious  word  as  our  reward. 
If  thou  choosest  to  be  so  kind,  give  us 
thine  order  which  shall  save  us  from  the 
judges  and  tax-gatherers ;  and  if  we 
should  be  guilty  of  some  offense,  let  thy- 
self alone  be  our  judge.  And  do,  we  pray 
thee,  pardon  the  seventh  Simeon,  our 
youngest  brother.  His  trade  is  surely 
bad,  but  he  is  not  the  first  and  not  the 
last  one  to  have  such  a  gift." 

"Let  it  be  as  you  wish,"  said  the  Tsar ; 
and  every  desire  was  granted  to  the 


SEVEN  SIMEONS  # 

seven  Simeons,  and  each  one  of  them 
received  a  big  tumbler  of  strong  green 
wine  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Tsar  him- 
self. Soon  after  this  the  wedding  was 
celebrated. 

Now,  honorable  dames  and  gentlemen, 
do  not  judge  this  story  of  mine  too  se- 
verely. If  you  like  it,  praise  it ;  if  not, 
let  it  be  forgotten.  The  story  is  told  and 
a  word  is  like  a  sparrow — once  out  it  is 
out  for  good. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE 
BIRDS 

[OMEWHERE  in  a  town  in  holy 
Russia,  there  lived  a  rich  mer- 
chant with  his  wife.  He  had  an 
only  son,  a  dear,  bright,  and  brave 
boy  called  Ivan.  One  lovely  day 
Ivan  sat  at  the  dinner  table  with 
his  parents.  Near  the  window  in  the 
same  room  hung  a  cage,  and  a  nightin- 
gale, a  sweet-voiced,  gray  bird,  was  im- 
prisoned within.  The  sweet  nightingale 
began  to  sing  its  wonderful  song  with 
trills  and  high  silvery  tones.  The  mer- 
chant listened  and  listened  to  the  song 
and  said : 

"How  I  wish  I  could  understand  the 
meaning  of  the  different  songs  of  all  the 
birds!  I  would  give  half  my  wealth  to 
the  man,  if  only  there  were  such  a  man, 
who  could  make  plain  to  me  all  the 
different  songs  of  the  different  birds." 

Ivan  took  notice  of  these  words  and 
no  matter  where  he  went,  no  matter 
where  he  was,  no  matter  what  he  did,  he 

[66] 


Ivan  learns  the  language  of  the  birds 
[67] 


68  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

always  thought  of  how  he  could  learn  the 
language  of  the  birds. 

Some  time  after  this  the  merchant's 
son  happened  to  be  hunting  in  a  forest. 
The  winds  rose,  the  sky  became  clouded, 
the  lightning  flashed,  the  thunder  roared 
loudly,  and  the  rain  fell  in  torrents.  Ivan 
soon  came  near  a  large  tree  and  saw  a 
big  nest  in  the  branches.  Four  small 
birds  were  in  the  nest ;  they  were  quite 
alone,  and  neither  father  nor  mother 
was  there  to  protect  them  from  the  cold 
and  wet.  The  good  Ivan  pitied  them, 
climbed  the  tree  and  covered  the  little 
ones  with  his  "kaftan,"  a  long-skirted 
coat  which  the  Russian  peasants  and 
merchants  usually  wear.  The  thunder- 
storm passed  by  and  a  big  bird  came  fly- 
ing and  sat  down  on  a  branch  near  the 
nest  and  spoke  very  kindly  to  Ivan. 

' '  Ivan,  I  thank  thee ;  thou  hast  pro- 
tected my  little  children  from  the  cold 
and  rain  and  I  wish  to  do  something  for 
thee.  Tell  me  what  thou  dost  wish." 

Ivan  answered :  "I  am  not  in  need;  I 
have  everything  for  my  comfort.  But 
teach  me  the  birds'  language." 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  BIRDS  69 

"Stay  with  me  three  days  and  thou 
shalt  know  all  about  it." 

Ivan  remained  in  the  forest  three  days. 
He  understood  well  the  teaching  of  the 
big  bird  and  returned  home  more  clever 
than  before.  One  beautiful  day  soon 
after  this  Ivan  sat  with  his  parents  when 
the  nightingale  was  singing  in  his  cage. 
His  song  was  so  sad,  however,  so  very 
sad,  that  the  merchant  and  his  wife  also 
became  sad,  and  their  son,  their  good 
Ivan,  who  listened  very  attentively,  was 
even  more  affected,  and  the  tears  came 
running  down  his  cheeks. 

"What  is  the  matter?"  asked  his  par- 
ents; "what  art  thou  weeping  about, 
dear  son?" 

"Dear  parents,"  answered  the  son,  "it 
is  because  I  understand  the  meaning  of 
the  nightingale's  song,  and  because  this 
meaning  is  so  sad  for  all  of  us." 

' '  What  then  is  the  meaning  ?  Tell  us 
the  whole  truth;  do  not  hide  it  from  us," 
said  the  father  and  mother. 

"Oh,  how  sad  it  sounds!"  replied  the 
son.  ' '  How  much  better  would  it  be 
never  to  have  been  born!" 


70  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

"Do  not  frighten  us,"  said  the  parents, 
alarmed.  "If  thou  dost  really  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  the  song,  tell  us  at 
once." 

"Do  you  not  hear  for  yourselves?  The 
nightingale  says:  'The  time  will  come 
when  Ivan,  the  merchant's  son,  shall 
become  Ivan,  the  king's  son,  and  his  own 
father  shall  serve  him  as  a  simple  serv- 
ant.'" 

The  merchant  and  his  wife  felt  trou- 
bled and  began  to  distrust  their  son,  their 
good  Ivan.  So  one  night  they  gave  him 
a  drowsy  drink,  and  when  he  had  fallen 
asleep  they  took  him  to  a  boat  on  the 
wide  sea,  spread  the  white  sails,  and 
pushed  the  boat  from  the  shore. 

For  a  long  time  the  boat  danced  on 
the  waves  and  finally  it  came  near  a  large 
merchant  vessel,  which  struck  against  it 
with  such  a  shock  that  Ivan  awoke.  The 
crew  on  the  large  vessel  saw  Ivan  and 
pitied  him.  So  they  decided  to  take 
him  along  with  them  and  did  so.  High, 
very  high,  above  in  the  sky  they  per- 
ceived cranes.  Ivan  said  to  the  sailors : 

"Be  careful ;  I  hear  the  birds  predict- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  BIRDS  71 

ing  a  storm.  Let  us  enter  a  harbor  or  we 
shall  suffer  great  danger  and  damage. 
All  the  sails  will  be  torn  and  all  the 
masts  will  be  broken." 

But  no  one  paid  any  attention  and 
they  went  farther  on.  In  a  short  time 
the  storm  arose,  the  wind  tore  the  vessel 
almost  to  pieces,  and  they  had  a  very 
hard  time  to  repair  all  the  damage. 
When  they  were  through  with  their  work 
they  heard  many  wild  swans  flying 
above  them  and  talking  very  loud  among 
themselves. 

''What  are  they  talking  about?"  in- 
quired the  men,  this  time  with  interest. 

"Be  careful,"  advised  Ivan.  "I  hear 
and  distinctly  understand  them  to  say 
that  the  pirates,  the  terrible  sea  robbers, 
are  near.  If  we  do  not  enter  a  harbor  at 
once  they  will  imprison  and  kill  us." 

The  crew  quickly  obeyed  this  advice 
and  as  soon  as  the  vessel  entered  the 
harbor  the  pirate  boats  passed  by  and  the 
merchants  saw  them  capture  several  un- 
prepared vessels.  When  the  danger  was 
over,  the  sailors  with  Ivan  went  farther, 
still  farther.  Finally  the  vessel  anchored 


72  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

near  a  town,  large  and  unknown  to  the 
merchants.  A  king  ruled  in  that  town 
who  was  very  much  annoyed  by  three 
black  crows.  These  three  crows  were  all 
the  time  perching  near  the  window  of 
the  king's  chamber.  No  one  knew  how 
to  get  rid  of  them  and  no  one  could  kill 
them.  The  king  ordered  notices  to  be 
placed  at  all  crossings  and  on  all  promi- 
nent buildings,  saying  that  whoever  was 
able  to  relieve  the  king  from  the  noisy 
birds  would  be  rewarded  by  obtaining  the 
youngest  korolevna,  the  king's  daughter, 
for  a  wife ;  but  the  one  who  should  have 
the  daring  to  undertake  but  not  succeed 
in  delivering  the  palace  from  the  crows 
would  have  his  head  cut  off.  Ivan  atten- 
tively read  the  announcement,  once, 
twice,  and  once  more.  Finally  he  made 
the  sign  of  the  cross  and  went  to  the 
palace.  He  said  to  the  servants: 

"Open  the  window  and  let  me  listen 
to  the  birds." 

The  servants  obeyed  and  Ivan  listened 
for  a  while.  Then  he  said: 

"Show  me  to  your  sovereign  king." 

When  he  reached  the  room  where  the 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  BIRDS  73 

king  sat  on  a  high,  rich  chair,  he  bowed 
and  said : 

"There  are  three  crows,  a  father  crow, 
a  mother  crow,  and  a  son  crow.  The 
trouble  is  that  they  desire  to  obtain  thy 
royal  decision  as  to  whether  the  son  crow 
must  follow  his  father  crow  or  his  mother 
crow." 

The  king  answered:  "The  son  crow 
must  follow  the  father  crow." 

As  soon  as  the  king  announced  his 
royal  decision  the  crow  father  with  the 
crow  son  went  one  way  and  the  crow 
mother  disappeared  the  other  way,  and 
no  one  has  heard  the  noisy  birds  since. 
The  king  gave  one-half  of  his  kingdom 
and  his  youngest  korolevna  to  Ivan,  and 
a  happy  life  began  for  him. 

In  the  meantime  his  father,  the  rich 
merchant,  lost  his  wife  and  by  and  by  his 
fortune  also.  There  was  no  one  left  to 
take  care  of  him,  and  the  old  man  went 
begging  under  the  windows  of  charitable 
people.  He  went  from  one  window  to 
another,  from  one  village  to  another, 
from  one  town  to  another,  and  one  bright 
day  he  came  to  the  palace  where  Ivan 


'  The  old  man  went  begging  from  town  to  town ' 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  BIRDS  75 

lived,  begging  humbly  for  charity.  Ivan 
saw  him  and  recognized  him,  ordered 
him  to  come  inside,  and  gave  him  food 
to  eat  and  also  supplied  him  with  good 
clothes,  asking  questions: 

"Dear  old  man,  what  can  I  do  for 
thee?"  he  said. 

"If  thou  art  so  very  good,"  answered 
the  poor  father,  without  knowing  that  he 
was  speaking  to  his  own  son,  "let  me 
remain  here  and  serve  thee  among  thy 
faithful  servants." 

"Dear,  dear  father!"  exclaimed  Ivan, 
"thou  didst  doubt  the  true  song  of  the 
nightingale,  and  now  thou  seest  that  our 
fate  was  to  meet  according  to  the  pre- 
dictions of  long  ago." 

The  old  man  was  frightened  and  knelt 
before  his  son,  but  his  Ivan  remained  the 
same  good  son  as  before,-  took  his  father 
lovingly  into  his  arms,  and  together  they 
wept  over  their  sorrow. 

Several  days  passed  by  and  the  old 
father  felt  courage  to  ask  his  son,  the 
korolevitch: 

"Tell  me,  my  son,  how  was  it  that 
thou  didst  not  perish  in  the  boat?" 


76 


FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 


Ivan  Korolevitch  laughed  gayly. 

"I  presume,"  he  answered,  "that  it 
was  not  my  fate  to  perish  at  the  bottom 
of  the  wide  sea,  but  my  fate  was  to  marry 
the  korolevna,  my  beautiful  wife,  and  to 
sweeten  the  old  age  of  my  dear  father." 


IVANOUSHKA   THE 
SIMPLETON 

N  a  kingdom  far  away 
from  our  country,  there 
was  a  town  over  which 
ruled  the  Tsar  Pea  with 
his  Tsaritza  Carrot. 
He  had  many  wise  statesmen,  wealthy 
princes,  strong,  powerful  warriors,  and 
also  simple  soldiers,  a  hundred  thousand, 
less  one  man.  In  that  town  lived  all 
kinds  of  people :  honest,  bearded  mer- 
chants, keen  and  open-handed  rascals, 
German  tradesmen,  lovely  maidens,  Rus- 
sian drunkards  ;  and  in  the  suburbs  all 
around,  the  peasants  tilled  the  soil,  sowed 
the  wheat,  ground  the  flour,  traded  in  the 
markets,  and  spent  the  money  in  drink. 
In  one  of  the  suburbs  there  was  a  poor 
hut  where  an  old  man  lived  with  his 
three  sons,  Thomas,  Pakhom,  and  Ivan. 
The  old  man  was  not  only  clever,  he  was 
wise.  He  had  happened  once  to  have 
a  chat  with  the  devil.  They  talked 
[77] 


78  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

together  while  the  old  man  treated  him 
to  a  tumbler  of  wine  and  got  out  of  the 
devil  many  great  secrets.  Soon  after  this 
the  peasant  began  to  perform  such  mar- 
velous acts  that  the  neighbors  called  him 
a  sorcerer,  a  magician,  and  even  sup- 
posed that  the  devil  was  his  kin. 

Yes,  it  is  true  that  the  old  man  per- 
formed great  marvels.  Were  you  longing 
for  love,  go  to  him,  bow  to  the  old  man, 
and  he  would  give  you  some  strange  root, 
and  the  sweetheart  would  be  yours.  If 
there  is  a  theft,  again  to  him  with  the 
tale.  The  old  man  conjures  over  some 
water,  takes  an  officer  along  straight  to 
the  thief,  and  your  lost  is  found ;  only 
take  care  that  the  officer  steals  it  not. 

Indeed  the  old  man  was  very  wise ;  but 
his  children  were  not  his  equals.  Two 
of  them  were  almost  as  clever.  They 
were  married  and  had  children,  but  Ivan, 
the  youngest,  was  single.  No  one  cared 
much  for  him  because  he  was  rather  a 
fool,  could  not  count  one,  two,  three,  and 
only  drank,  or  ate,  or  slept,  or  lay  around. 
Why  care  for  such  a  person  ?  Every  one 
knows  life  for  some  is  brighter  than 


IVANOUSHKA  THE  SIMPLETON  79 

for  others.  But  Ivan  was  good-hearted 
and  quiet.  Ask  of  him  a  belt,  he  will 
give  a  kaftan  also ;  take  his  mittens,  he 
certainly  would  want  to  have  you  take 
his  cap  with  them.  And  that  is  why  all 
liked  Ivan,  and  usually  called  him  Ivan- 
oushka  the  Simpleton  ;  though  the  name 
means  fool,  at  the  same  time  it  carries 
the  idea  of  a  kind  heart. 

Our  old  man  lived  on  with  his  sons 
until  finally  his  hour  came  to  die.  He 
called  his  three  sons  and  said  to  them : 

' '  Dear  children  of  mine,  my  dying 
hour  is  at  hand  and  ye  must  fulfill  my 
will.  Every  one  of  you  come  to  my  grave 
and  spend  one  night  with  me;  thou,  Tom, 
the  first  night ;  thou,  Pakhom,  the  second 
night ;  and  thou,  Ivanoushka  the  Simple- 
ton, the  third." 

Two  of  the  brothers,  as  clever  people, 
promised  their  father  to  do  according  to 
his  bidding,  but  the  Simpleton  did  not 
even  promise;  he  only  scratched  his  head. 

The  old  man  died  and  was  buried. 
During  the  celebration  the  family  and 
guests  had  plenty  of  pancakes  to  eat  and 
plenty  of  whisky  to  wash  them  down. 


8o  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

Now  you  remember  that  on  the  first 
night  Thomas  was  to  go  to  the  grave; 
but  he  was  too  lazy,  or  possibly  afraid, 
so  he  said  to  the  Simpleton: 

"I  must  be  up  very  early  to-morrow 
morning;  I  have  to  thresh;  go  thou  for 
me  to  our  father's  grave." 

"All  right,"  answered  Ivanoushka  the 
Simpleton.  He  took  a  slice  of  black  rye 
bread,  went  to  the  grave,  stretched  him- 
self out,  and  soon  began  to  snore. 

The  church  clock  struck  midnight ;  the 
wind  roared,  the  owl  cried  in  the  trees, 
the  grave  opened  and  the  old  man  came 
out  and  asked: 

"Who  is  there?" 

"I,"  answered  Ivanoushka. 

"Well,  my  dear  son,  I  will  reward 
thee  for  thine  obedience,"  said  the  father. 

Lo !  the  cocks  crowed  and  the  old  man 
dropped  into  the  grave.  The  Simpleton 
arrived  home  and  went  to  the  warm 
stove. 

' '  What  happened  ? "  asked  the  brothers. 

"Nothing,"  he  answered.  "I  slept  the 
whole  night  and  am  hungry  now." 

The  second  night  it  was  Pakhom's  turn 


IVANOUSHKA  THE  SIMPLETON  81 

to  go  to  his  father's  grave.  He  thought 
it  over  and  said  to  the  Simpleton: 

"To-morrow  is  a  busy  day  with  me. 
Go  in  my  place  to  our  father's  grave." 

'  'All  right, ' '  answered  I vanoushka.  He 
took  along  with  him  a  piece  of  fish  pie, 
went  to  the  grave  and  slept.  Midnight 
approached,  the  wind  roared,  crows  came 
flying,  the  grave  opened  and  the  old  man 
came  out. 

"  Who  is  there?"  he  asked. 

"I,"  answered  his  son  the  Simpleton. 

' '  Well,  my  beloved  son,  I  will  not  for- 
get thine  obedience,"  said  the  old  man. 

The  cocks  crowed  and  the  old  man 
dropped  into  his  grave.  Ivanoushka  the 
Simpleton  came  home,  went  to  sleep  on 
the  warm  stove,  and  in  the  morning  his 
brothers  asked: 

"What  happened?" 

"Nothing,"  answered  Ivanoushka. 

On  the  third  night  the  brothers  said  to 
Ivan  the  Simpleton: 

"It  is  thy  turn  to  go  to  the  grave  of 
our  father.  The  father's  will  should  be 
done." 

1  'All  right, ' '  answered  Ivanoushka.   He 


82  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

took  some  cookies,  put  on  his  sheepskin, 
and  arrived  at  the  grave. 

At  midnight  his  father  came  out. 
"Who  is  there?"  he  asked. 
"I,"  answered  Ivanoushka. 
"  Well,"  said  the  old  father,  "my  obe- 
dient son,  thou  shalt  be  rewarded;"  and 
the  old  man  shouted  with  a  mighty  voice  : 
"Arise,  bay  horse — thou  wind-swift  steed, 
Appear  before  me  in  my  need ; 
Stand  up  as  in  the  storm  the  weed ! " 

And  lo  ! — Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton  be- 
held a  horse  running,  the  earth  trembling 
under  his  hoofs,  his  eyes  like  stars,  and 
out  of  his  mouth  and  ears  smoke  coming 
in  a  cloud.  The  horse  approached  and 
stood  before  the  old  man. 

"What  is  thy  wish?"  he  asked  with  a 
man's  voice. 

The  old  man  crawled  into  his  left  ear, 
washed  and  adorned  himself,  and  jumped 
out  of  his  right  ear  as  a  young,  brave 
fellow  never  seen  before. 

' '  Now  listen  attentively, "  he  said.  "To 
thee,  my  son,  I  give  this  horse.  And 
thou,  my  faithful  horse  and  friend,  serve 
my  son  as  thou  hast  served  me." 


IVANOUSHKA  THE  SIMPLETON  83 

Hardly  had  the  old  man  pronounced 
these  words  when  the  first  cock  crew 
and  the  sorcerer  dropped  into  his  grave. 
Our  Simpleton  went  quietly  back  home, 
stretched  himself  under  the  icons,  and 
his  snoring  was  heard  far  around. 

"What  happened?"  the  brothers  again 
asked. 

But  the  Simpleton  did  not  even  an- 
swer ;  he  only  waved  his  hand. 

The  three  brothers  continued  to  live 
their  usual  life,  the  two  with  cleverness 
and  the  younger  with  foolishness.  They 
lived  a  day  in  and  an  equal  day  out.  But 
one  morning  there  came  quite  a  different 
day  from  all  others.  They  learned  that 
big  men  were  going  all  over  the  country 
with  trumpets  and  players ;  that  those 
men  announced  everywhere  the  will  of 
the  Tsar,  and  the  Tsar's  will  was  this  : 
The  Tsar  Pea  and  the  Tsaritza  Carrot 
had  an  only  daughter,  the  Tsarevna  Bak- 
triana,  heiress  to  the  throne.  She  was 
such  a  beautiful  maiden  that  the  sun 
blushed  when  she  looked  at  it,  and  the 
moon,  altogether  too  bashful,  covered 
itself  from  her  eyes.  Tsar  and  Tsaritza 


84  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE   RUSSIAN 

had  a  hard  time  to  decide  to  whom  they 
should  give  their  daughter  for  a  wife.  It 
must  be  a  man  who  could  be  a  proper 
ruler  over  the  country,  a  brave  warrior 
on  the  battlefield,  a  wise  judge  in  the 
council,  an  adviser  to  the  Tsar,  and  a 
suitable  heir  after  his  death.  They  also 
wanted  a  bridegroom  who  was  young, 
brave,  and  handsome,  and  they  wanted 
him  to  be  in  love  with  their  Tsarevna. 
That  would  have  been  easy  enough,  but 
the  trouble  was  that  the  beautiful  Tsar- 
evna loved  no  one.  Sometimes  the  Tsar 
mentioned  to  her  this  or  that  one.  Al- 
ways the  same  answer,  "I  do  not  love 
him."  The  Tsaritza  tried,  too,  with  no 
better  result ;  "I  do  not  like  him." 

A  day  came  when  the  Tsar  Pea  and 
his  Tsaritza  Carrot  seriously  addressed 
their  daughter  on  the  subject  of  marriage 
and  said  : 

' '  Our  beloved  child,  our  very  beautiful 
Tsarevna  Baktriana,  it  is  time  for  thee 
to  choose  a  bridegroom.  Envoys  of  all 
descriptions,  from  kings  and  tzars  and 
princes,  have  worn  our  threshold,  drunk 
dry  all  the  cellars,  and  thou  hast  not  yet 


IVANOUSHKA  THE  SIMPLETON  85 

found  any  one  according  to  thy  heart's 
wish." 

The  Tsarevna  answered :  ' '  Sovereign, 
and  thou,  Tsaritza,  my  dear  mother,  I 
feel  sorry  for  you,  and  my  wish  is  to 
obey  your  desire.  So  let  fate  decide  who 
is  destined  to  become  my  husband.  I 
ask  you  to  build  a  hall,  a  high  hall  with 
thirty-two  circles,  and  above  those  circles 
a  window.  I  will  sit  at  that  window  and 
do  you  order  all  kinds  of  people,  tsars, 
kings,  tsarovitchi,  korolevitchi,  brave 
warriors,  and  handsome  fellows,  to  come. 
The  one  who  will  jump  through  the 
thirty-two  circles,  reach  my  window  and 
exchange  with  me  golden  rings,  he  it  will 
be  who  is  destined  to  become  my  hus- 
band, son  and  heir  to  you." 

The  Tsar  and  Tsaritza  listened  atten- 
tively to  the  words  of  their  bright  Tsar- 
evna, and  finally  they  said  :  ' '  According 
to  thy  wish  shall  it  be  done." 

In  no  time  the  hall  was  ready,  a  very 
high  hall  adorned  with  Venetian  velvets, 
with  pearls  for  tassels,  with  golden  de- 
signs, and  thirty-two  circles  on  both  sides 
of  the  window  high  above.  Envoys  went 


86  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

to  the  different  kings  and  sovereigns, 
pigeons  flew  with  orders  to  the  subjects 
to  gather  the  proud  and  the  humble  into 
the  town  of  the  Tsar  Pea  and  his  Tsaritza 
Carrot.  It  was  announced  everywhere 
that  the  one  who  could  jump  through  the 
circles,  reach  the  window  and  exchange 
golden  rings  with  the  Tsarevna  Baktri- 
ana,  that  man  would  be  the  lucky  one, 
notwithstanding  his  rank — tsar  or  free 
kosack,  king  or  warrior,  tsarevitch,  koro- 
levitch,  or  fellow  without  any  kinfolk 
or  country. 

The  great  day  arrived.  Crowds  pressed 
to  the  field  where  stood  the  newly  built 
hall,  brilliant  as  a  star.  Up  high  at  the 
window  the  tsarevna  was  sitting,  adorned 
with  precious  stones,  clad  in  velvet  and 
pearls.  The  people  below  were  roaring 
like  an  ocean.  The  Tzar  with  his  Tzaritza 
was  sitting  upon  a  throne.  Around  them 
were  boyars,  warriors,  and  counselors. 

The  suitors  on  horseback,  proud,  hand- 
some, and  brave,  whistle  and  ride  round 
about,  but  looking  at  the  high  window 
their  hearts  drop.  There  were  already 
several  fellows  who  had  tried.  Each 


IVANOUSHKA  THE  SIMPLETON  87 

would  take  a  long  start,  balance  himself, 
spring,  and  fall  back  like  a  stone,  a  laugh- 
ing stock  for  the  witnesses. 

The  brothers  of  Ivanoushka  the  Sim- 
pleton were  preparing  themselves  to  go 
to  the  field  also. 

The  Simpleton  said  to  them:  "Take 
me  along  with  you." 

"Thou  fool,"  laughed  the  brothers; 
"stay  at  home  and  watch  the  chickens." 

"All  right,"  he  answered,  went  to  the 
chicken  yard  and  lay  down.  But  as  soon 
as  the  brothers  were  away,  our  Ivan- 
oushka the  Simpleton  walked  to  the  wide 
fields  and  shouted  with  a  mighty  voice: 

"Arise,  bay  horse  —  thou  wind-swift  steed, 
Appear  before  me  in  my  need ; 
Stand  tip  as  in  the  storm  the  weed ! " 

The  glorious  horse  came  running. 
Flames  shone  out  of  his  eyes ;  out  of  his 
nostrils  smoke  came  in  clouds,  and  the 
horse  asked  with  a  man's  voice: 

' '  What  is  thy  wish  ? ' ' 

Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton  crawled 
into  the  horse's  left  ear,  transformed 
himself  and  reappeared  at  the  right  ear, 
such  a  handsome  fellow  that  in  no  book 


88  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

is  there  written  any  description  of  him; 
no  one  has  ever  seen  such  a  fellow.  He 
jumped  onto  the  horse  and  touched  his 
iron  sides  with  a  silk  whip.  The  horse 
became  impatient,  lifted  himself  above 
the  ground,  higher  and  higher  above  the 
dark  woods  below  the  traveling  clouds. 
He  swam  over  the  large  rivers,  jumped 
over  the  small  ones,  as  well  as  over  hills 
and  mountains.  Ivanoushka  the  Simple- 
ton arrived  at  the  hall  of  the  Tsarevna 
Baktriana,  flew  up  like  a  hawk,  passed 
through  thirty  circles,  could  not  reach 
the  last  two,  and  went  away  like  a  whirl- 
wind. 

The  people  were  shouting:  "Take 
hold  of  him!  take  hold  of  him!"  The  Tsar 
jumped  to  his  feet,  the  Tsaritza  screamed. 
Every  one  was  roaring  in  amazement. 

The  brothers  of  Ivanoushka  came 
home  and  there  was  but  one  subject  of 
conversation  —  what  a  splendid  fellow 
they  had  seen!  What  a  wonderful  start 
to  pass  through  the  thirty  circles! 

"Brothers,  that  fellow  was  I,"  said 
Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton,  who  had  long 
since  arrived. 


IVANOUSHKA  THE  SIMPLETON  89 

"Keep  still  and  do  not  fool  us,"  an- 
swered the  brothers. 

The  next  day  the  two  brothers  were 
going  again  to  the  tsarski  show  and  Ivan- 
oushka  the  Simpleton  said  again :  '  'Take 
me  along  with  you." 

"For  thee,  fool,  this  is  thy  place.  Be 
quiet  at  home  and  scare  sparrows  from 
the  pea  field  instead  of  the  scarecrow." 

"All  right,"  answered  the  Simpleton, 
and  he  went  to  the  field  and  began  to 
scare  the  sparrows.  But  as  soon  as  the 
brothers  left  home,  Ivanoushka  started 
to  the  wide  field  and  shouted  out  loud 
with  a  mighty  voice : 

"Arise,  bay  horse  —  thou  wind-swift  steed, 
Appear  before  me  in  my  need ; 
Stand  up  as  in  the  storm  the  weed ! " 

—  and  here  came  the  horse,  the  earth 
trembling  under  his  hoofs,    the  sparks 
flying  around,  his  eyes  like  flames,  and 
out  of  his  nostrils  smoke  curling  up. 
"For  what  dost  thou  wish  me?" 
Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton  crawled 
into  the  left  ear  of  the  horse,  and  when 
he  appeared  out  of  the  right  ear,  oh,  my ! 
what  a  fellow  he  was!     Even  in   fairy 


90  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

tales  there  are  never  such  handsome  fel- 
lows, to  say  nothing  of  everyday  life. 

Ivanoushka  lifted  himself  on  the  iron 
back  of  his  horse  and  touched  him  with 
a  strong  whip.  The  noble  horse  grew 
angry,  made  a  jump,  and  went  higher 
than  the  dark  woods,  a  little  below  the 
traveling  clouds.  One  jump,  one  mile  is 
behind;  a  second  jump,  a  river  is  behind; 
and  a  third  jump  and  they  were  at  the 
hall.  Then  the  horse,  with  Ivanoushka 
on  his  back,  flew  like  an  eagle,  high  up 
into  the  air,  passed  the  thirty-first  circle, 
failed  to  reach  the  last  one,  and  swept 
away  like  the  wind. 

The  people  shouted:  "Take  hold  of 
him!  take  hold  of  him!"  The  Tsar  jumped 
to  his  feet,  the  Tsaritza  screamed,  the 
princes  and  boyars  opened  their  mouths. 

The  brothers  of  Ivanoushka  the  Sim- 
pleton came  home.  They  were  wonder- 
ing at  the  fellow.  Yes,  an  amazing  fellow 
indeed !  one  circle  only  was  unreached. 

"Brothers,  that  fellow  over  there  was 
I,"  said  Ivanoushka  to  them. 

"Keep  still  in  thy  own  place,  thou 
fool,"  was  their  sneering  answer. 


IVANOUSHKA  THE  SIMPLETON  91 

The  third  day  the  brothers  were  going 
again  to  the  strange  entertainment  of  the 
Tsar,  and  again  Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton 
said  to  them  :  "Take  me  along  with 
you." 

"Fool,"  they  laughed,  "there  is  food 
to  be  given  to  the  hogs ;  better  go  to 
them." 

"All  right,"  the  younger  brother  an- 
swered, and  quietly  went  to  the  back  yard 
and  gave  food  to  the  hogs.  But  as  soon 
as  his  brothers  had  left  home  our  Ivan- 
oushka the  Simpleton  hurried  to  the  wide 
field  and  shouted  out  loud  : 

"Arise,  bay  horse  —  them  wind-swift  steed, 
Appear  before  me  in  my  need  ; 
Stand  up  as  in  the  storm  the  weed ! " 

At  once  the  horse  came  running,  the 
earth  trembled  ;  where  he  stepped  there 
appeared  ponds,  where  his  hoofs  touched 
there  were  lakes,  out  of  his  eyes  shone 
flames,  out  of  his  ears  smoke  came  like  a 
cloud. 

"For  what  dost  thou  wish  me?"  the 
horse  asked  with  a  man's  voice. 

Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton  crawled 
into  his  right  ear  and  jumped  out  of  his 


Q2  FOLK  TALES  PROM  THE   RUSSIAN 

left  one,  and  a  handsome  fellow  he  was. 
A  young  girl  could  not  even  imagine  such 
a  one. 

Ivanoushka  struck  his  horse,  pulled 
the  bridle  tight,  and  lo !  he  flew  high  up 
in  the  air.  The  wind  was  left  behind  and 
even  the  swallow,  the  sweet,  winged  pas- 
senger, must  not  aspire  to  do  the  same. 
Our  hero  flew  like  a  cloud  high  up  into 
the  sky,  his  silver-chained  mail  rattling, 
his  fair  curls  floating  in  the  wind.  He 
arrived  at  the  Tsarevna's  high  hall,  struck 
his  horse  once  more,  and  oh !  how  the 
wild  horse  did  jump  ! 

Look  there  !  the  fellow  reaches  all  the 
circles;  he  is  near  the  window;  he  presses 
the  beautiful  Tsarevna  with  his  strong 
arms,  kisses  her  on  the  sugar  lips,  ex- 
changes golden  rings,  and  like  a  storm 
sweeps  through  the  fields.  There,  there, 
he  is  crushing  every  one  on  his  way ! 
And  the  Tsarevna?  Well,  she  did  not 
object.  She  even  adorned  his  forehead 
with  a  diamond  star. 

The  people  roared  :  ' '  Take  hold  of 
him ! "  But  the  fellow  had  already  dis- 
appeared and  no  traces  were  left  behind. 


IVANOUSHKA  THE   SIMPLETON  93 

The  Tsar  Pea  lost  his  royal  dignity. 
The  Tsaritza  Carrot  screamed  louder  than 
ever  and  the  wise  counselors  only  shook 
their  wise  heads  and  remained  silent. 

The  brothers  came  home  talking  and 
discussing  the  wonderful  matter. 

"Indeed,"  they  shook  their  heads; 
' '  only  think  of  it !  The  fellow  succeeded 
and  ourTsarevna  has  a  bridegroom.  But 
who  is  he?  Where  is  he?" 

"Brothers,  the  fellow  is  I,"  said  Ivan- 
oushka  the  Simpleton,  smiling. 

"Keep  still,  I  and  I — ,"  and  the  broth- 
ers almost  slapped  him. 

The  matter  proved  to  be  quite  serious 
this  time,  and  the  Tsar  and  Tsaritza  issued 
an  order  to  surround  the  town  with  armed 
men  whose  duty  it  was  to  let  every  one 
enter,  but  not  a  soul  go  out.  Every  one 
had  to  appear  at  the  royal  palace  and 
show  his  forehead.  From  early  in  the 
morning  the  crowds  were  gathering 
around  the  palace.  Each  forehead  was 
inspected,  but  there  was  no  star  on  any. 
Dinner  time  was  approaching  and  in  the 
palace  they  even  forgot  to  cover  the  oak 
tables  with  white  spreads.  The  brothers 


94  FOLK  TALES   FROM   THE   RUSSIAN 

of  Ivanoushka  had  also  to  show  their  fore- 
heads and  the  Simpleton  said  to  them  : 
"Take  me  along  with  you." 

"Thy  place  is  right  here,"  they  an- 
swered, jokingly.  "But  say,  what  is 
the  matter  with  thy  head  that  thou  hast 
covered  it  with  cloths?  Did  somebody 
strike  thee?" 

"No,  nobody  struck  me.  I,  myself, 
struck  the  door  with  my  forehead.  The 
door  remained  all  right,  but  on  my  fore- 
head there  is  a  knob." 

The  brothers  laughed  and  went  Soon 
after  them  Ivanoushka  left  home  and 
went  straight  to  the  window  of  the  Tsar- 
evna,  where  she  sat  leaning  on  the  win- 
dow sill  and  looking  for  her  betrothed. 

"There  is  our  man,"  shouted  the 
guards,  when  the  Simpleton  appeared 
among  them.  ' '  Show  thy  forehead.  Hast 
thou  the  star?"  and  they  laughed. 

Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton  gave  no 
heed  to  their  bidding,  but  refused.  The 
guards  were  shouting  at  him  and  the 
Tsarevna  heard  the  noise  and  ordered  the 
fellow  to  her  presence.  There  was  noth- 
ing to  be  done  but  to  take  off  the  cloths. 


IVANOUSHKA  THE   SIMPLETON  95 

Behold  !  the  star  was  shining  in  the  mid- 
dle of  his  forehead.  The  Tsarevna  took 
Ivanoushka  by  the  hand,  brought  him 
before  Tsar  Pea,  and  said  : 

' '  He  it  is,  my  Tsar  and  father,  who  is 
destined  to  become  my  groom,  thy  son- 
in-law  and  heir." 

It  was  too  late  to  object.  The  Tsar 
ordered  preparations  for  the  bridal  festiv- 
ities, and  our  Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton 
was  wedded  to  the  Tsarevna  Baktriana. 
The  Tsar,  the  Tsaritza,  the  young  bride 
and  groom,  and  their  guests,  feasted 
three  days.  There  was  fine  eating  and 
generous  drinking.  There  were  all  kinds 
of  amusements  also.  The  brothers  of 
Ivanoushka  were  created  governors  and 
each  one  received  a  village  and  a  house. 

The  story  is  told  in  no  time,  but  to  live 
a  life  requires  time  and  patience.  The 
brothers  of  Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton 
were  clever  men,  we  know,  and  as  soon 
as  they  became  rich  every  one  understood 
"t  at  once,  and  they  themselves  became 
quite  sure  about  it  and  began  to  pride 
themselves,  to  boast,  and  to  brag.  The 
humble  ones  did  not  dare  look  toward 


96  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

their  homes,  and  even  the  boyars  had  to 
take  off  their  fur  caps  on  their  porches. 

Once  several  boyars  came  to  Tsar  Pea 
and  said  :  ' '  Great  Tsar,  the  brothers  of 
thy  son-in-law  are  bragging  around  that 
they  know  the  place  where  grows  an 
apple  tree  with  silver  leaves  and  golden 
apples,  and  they  want  to  bring  this  apple 
tree  to  thee." 

The  Tsar  immediately  called  the  broth- 
ers before  him  and  bade  them  bring  at 
once  the  wonderful  tree,  the  apple  tree 
with  silver  leaves  and  golden  apples. 
The  brothers  had  ever  so  many  excuses, 
but  the  Tsar  would  have  his  way.  They 
were  given  fine  horses  out  of  the  royal 
stables  and  went  on  their  errand.  Our 
friend,  Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton,  found 
somewhere  a  lame  old  horse,  jumped  on 
his  back  facing  the  tail,  and  also  went. 
He  went  to  the  wide  field,  grasped  the 
lame  horse  by  the  tail,  threw  him  off 
roughly,  and  shouted : 

' '  You  crows  and  magpies,  come,  come ! 
There  is  lunch  prepared  for  you." 

This  done  he  ordered  his  horse,  his 
spirited  courser,  to  appear,  and  as  usual 


IVANOUSHKA  THE  SIMPLETON  97 

he  crawled  into  one  ear,  jumped  out  the 
other  ear  and  they  went — where  ?  Toward 
the  east  where  grew  the  wonderful  apple 
tree  with  silver  leaves  and  golden  apples. 
It  grew  near  silver  waters  upon  golden 
sand.  When  Ivanoushka  reached  the 
place  he  uprooted  the  tree  and  turned 
toward  home.  His  ride  was  long  and  he 
felt  tired.  Before  he  arrived  at  his  town 
Ivanoushka  pitched  his  tent  and  lay  down 
for  a  rest.  Along  the  same  road  came 
his  brothers.  The  two  were  proud  no 
more,  but  rather  depressed,  not  knowing 
what  answer  to  give  the  Tsar.  They  per- 
ceived the  tent  with  silver  top  and  near 
by  the  wonderful  apple  tree.  They  came 
nearer  and — "There  is  our  Simpleton!" 
exclaimed  the  brothers.  Then  they 
awakened  Ivanoushka  and  wanted  to 
buy  the  apple  tree.  They  were  rich  and 
offered  three  carts  filled  with  silver. 

' '  Well,  brothers,  this  tree,  this  wonder- 
ful apple  tree,  is  not  for  sale,"  answered 
Ivanoushka,  "but  if  you  wish  to  obtain 
it  you  may.  The  price  will  not  be  too 
high,  a  toe  from  each  right  foot." 

The  brothers  thought  the  matter  over 


98  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

and  finally  decided  to  give  the  desired 
price.  Ivanoushka  cut  the  toes  off,  gave 
them  the  apple  tree,  and  the  happy  broth- 
ers brought  it  to  the  Tsar  and  there  was 
no  end  to  their  bragging. 

"Here,  all-powerful  Tsar,"  they  said. 
' '  We  went  far,  and  had  many  a  trouble 
on  our  way,  but  thy  wish  is  fulfilled." 

The  Tsar  Pea  seemed  pleased,  ordered 
a  feast,  commanded  tunes  to  be  played 
and  drums  beaten,  rewarded  the  two 
brothers  of  Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton, 
each  one  with  a  town,  and  praised  them. 

The  boyars  and  warriors  became 
furious. 

"Why,"  they  said  to  the  Tsar,  "there 
is  nothing  wonderful  in  such  an  apple 
tree  with  golden  apples  and  silver  leaves. 
The  brothers  of  thy  son-in-law  are  brag- 
ging around  that  they  will  get  thee  a  pig 
with  golden  bristles  and  silver  tusks,  and 
not  alone  the  pig,  but  also  her  twelve 
little  ones ! " 

The  Tsar  called  the  brothers  before 
him  and  ordered  them  to  bring  the  very 
pig  with  her  golden  bristles  and  silver 
tusks  and  her  twelve  little  ones.  The 


IVANOUSHKA  THE  SIMPLETON       99 

brothers'  excuses  were  not  listened  to 
and  so  they  went.  Once  more  the  broth- 
ers were  traveling  on  a  difficult  errand, 
looking  for  a  golden-bristled  pig  with  sil- 
ver tusks  and  twelve  little  pigs. 

At  that  time  Ivanoushka  the  Simple- 
ton made  up  his  mind  to  take  a  trip 
somewhere.  He  put  a  saddle  on  a  cow, 
jumped  up  on  her  back  facing  the  tail, 
and  left  the  town.  He  came  to  a  field, 
grasped  the  cow  by  the  horns,  threw  her 
far  on  the  prairie  and  shouted : 

"Come,  come,  you  gray  wolves  and 
red  foxes  !  there  is  a  dinner  for  you ! " 

Then  he  ordered  his  faithful  horse, 
crawled  into  one  ear,  and  jumped  out  of 
the  other.  Master  and  courser  went  on 
an  errand,  this  time  toward  the  south. 
One,  two,  three,  and  they  were  in  dark 
woods.  In  these  woods  the  wished-for 
pig  was  walking  around,  a  golden- 
bristled  pig  with  silver  tusks.  She  was 
eating  roots,  and  after  her  followed  twelve 
little  pigs. 

Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton  threw  over 
the  pig  a  silk  rope  with  a  running  noose, 
gathered  the  little  pigs  into  a  basket  and 


100  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

went  home,  but  before  he  reached  the 
town  of  the  Tsar  Pea  he  pitched  a  tent 
with  a  golden  top  and  lay  down  for  a 
rest.  On  the  same  road  the  brothers 
came  along  with  gloomy  faces,  not  know- 
ing what  to  say  to  the  Tsar.  They  saw 
the  tent,  and  near  by  the  very  pig  they 
were  searching  for,  with  golden  bristles 
and  silver  tusks,  was  fastened  with  a  silk 
rope;  and  in  a  basket  were  the  twelve 
little  pigs.  The  brothers  looked  into  the 
tent.  Ivanoushka  again!  They  awak- 
ened him  and  wanted  to  trade  for  the 
pig;  they  were  ready  to  give  in  exchange 
three  carts  loaded  with  precious  stones. 

"Brothers,  my  pig  is  not  for  trade," 
said  Ivanoushka,  "but  if  you  want  her 
so  much,  well,  one  ringer  from  each  right 
hand  will  pay  for  her." 

The  brothers  thought  over  the  case  for 
a  long  while  ;  they  reasoned  thus  :  "Peo- 
ple live  happily  without  brains,  why  not 
without  ringers?" 

So  they  allowed  Ivanoushka  to  cut  off 
their  ringers,  then  took  the  pig  to  the 
Tsar,  and  their  bragging  had  no  end. 

' '  Tsar  Sovereign, "  they  said,  ' '  we  went 


IVANOUSHKA  THE  SIMPLETON  IOI 

everywhere,  beyond  the  blue  sea,  beyond 
the  dark  woods  ;  we  passed  through  deep 
sands,  we  suffered  hunger  and  thirst ;  but 
thy  wish  is  accomplished." 

The  Tsar  was  glad  to  have  such  faith- 
ful servants.  He  gave  a  feast  great  among 
feasts,  rewarded  the  brothers  of  Ivan- 
oushka  the  Simpleton,  created  them  big 
boyars  and  praised  them. 

The  other  boyars  and  different  court 
people  said  to  the  Tsar : 

' '  There  is  nothing  wonderful  in  such  a 
pig.  Golden  bristles,  silver  tusks, — yes,  it 
is  fine.  But  a  pig  remains  a  pig  forever. 
The  brothers  of  thy  son-in-law  are  brag- 
ging now  that  they  will  steal  for  thee  out 
of  the  stables  of  the  fiery  dragon  a  mare 
with  golden  mane  and  diamond  hoofs." 

The  Tsar  at  once  called  the  brothers  of 
Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton,  and  ordered 
the  golden-maned  mare  with  the  diamond 
hoofs.  The  brothers  swore  that  they 
never  said  such  words,  but  the  Tsar  did 
not  listen  to  their  protests. 

' '  Take  as  much  gold  as  you  want,  take 
warriors  as  many  as  you  wish,  but  bring 
me  the  beautiful  mare  with  golden  mane 


102          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

and  diamond  hoofs.  If  you  do  it  my 
reward  will  be  great ;  if  not,  your  fate  is 
to  become  peasants  as  before." 

The  brothers  went,  two  sad  heroes. 
Their  march  was  slow  ;  where  to  go  they 
did  not  know.  Ivanoushka  also  jumped 
upon  a  stick  and  went  leaping  toward  the 
field.  Once  in  the  wide,  open  field,  he 
ordered  his  horse,  crawled  into  one  ear, 
came  out  of  the  other,  and  both  started 
for  a  far-away  country,  for  an  island,  a 
big  island.  On  that  island  in  an  iron 
stable  the  fiery  dragon  was  watchfully 
guarding  his  glory — the  golden-maned 
mare  with  diamond  hoofs,  which  was 
locked  under  seven  locks  behind  seven 
heavy  doors. 

Our  Ivanoushka  journeyed  and  jour- 
neyed, how  long  we  do  not  know,  until 
at  last  he  arrived  at  that  island,  struggled 
three  days  with  the  dragon  and  killed  him 
on  the  fourth  day.  Then  he  began  to 
tear  down  the  locks.  That  took  three 
days  more.  When  he  had  done  this  he 
brought  out  the  wonderful  mare  by  the 
golden  mane  and  turned  homeward. 

The   road  was   long,  and   before   he 


IVANOUSHKA  THE  SIMPLETON  103 

reached  his  town  Ivanoushka,  according 
to  his  habit,  pitched  his  tent  with  a  dia- 
mond top,  and  laid  him  down  for  rest. 
The  brothers  came  along — gloomy  they 
were,  fearing  the  Tsar's  anger.  Lo!  they 
heard  neighing;  the  earth  trembled — it 
was  the  golden-maned  mare  !  Though  in 
the  dusk  of  evening  the  brothers  saw 
her  golden  mane  shining  like  fire.  They 
stopped,  awakened  Ivanoushka  the  Sim- 
pleton, and  wanted  to  trade  for  the  won- 
derful mare.  They  were  willing  to  give 
him  a  bushel  of  precious  stones  each  and 
promised  even  more. 

Ivanoushka  said :  ' '  Though  my  mare 
is  not  for  trade,  yet  if  you  want  her  I'll 
give  her  to  you.  And  you,  do  you  each 
give  me  your  right  ears." 

The  brothers  did  not  even  argue,  but 
let  Ivanoushka  cut  off  their  ears,  took 
hold  of  the  bridle  and  went  directly  to 
the  Tsar.  They  presented  to  him  the 
golden-maned  mare  with  diamond  hoofs, 
and  there  was  no  end  of  bragging. 

"We  went  beyond  seas,  beyond  moun- 
tains, ' '  the  brothers  said  to  the  Tsar ;  ' '  we 
fought  the  fiery  dragon  who  bit  off  our 


104  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

ears  and  fingers ;  we  had  no  fear,  but  one 
desire  to  serve  thee  faithfully;  we  shed 
our  blood  and  lost  our  wealth." 

The  Tsar  Pea  poured  gold  over  them, 
created  them  the  very  highest  men  after 
himself,  and  planned  such  a  feast  that 
the  royal  cooks  were  tired  out  with  cook- 
ing to  feed  all  the  people,  and  the  cellars 
were  fairly  emptied. 

The  Tsar  Pea  was  sitting  on  his 
throne,  one  brother  on  his  right  hand, 
the  other  brother  on  his  left  hand.  The 
feast  was  going  on ;  all  seemed  jolly,  all 
were  drinking,  all  were  noisy  as  bees  in 
a  beehive.  In  the  midst  of  it  a  young, 
brave  fellow,  Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton, 
entered  the  hall — the  very  fellow  who  had 
passed  the  thirty-two  circles  and  reached 
the  window  of  the  beautiful  Tsarevna 
Baktriana. 

When  the  brothers  noticed  him,  one 
almost  choked  himself  with  wine,  the 
other  was  suffocating  over  a  piece  of 
swan.  They  looked  at  him,  opened  wide 
their  eyes,  and  remained  silent. 

Ivanoushka  the  Simpleton  bowed  to 
his  father-in-law  and  told  the  story  as  the 


"One  brother  was  sent  to  watch  the  turkeys" 


106  FOLK  TALES   FROM  THE   RUSSIAN 

story  was.  He  told  about  the  apple  tree, 
the  wonderful  apple  tree  with  silver  leaves 
and  golden  apples  ;  he  told  about  the  pig, 
the  golden-bristled  pig  with  silver  tusks 
and  her  twelve  little  ones  ;  and  finally  he 
told  about  the  marvelous  mare  with  a 
golden  mane  and  diamond  hoofs.  He 
finished  and  laid  out  ears,  fingers,  and 
toes. 

''It  is  the  exchange  I  got,"  said  Ivan- 
oushka. 

Tsar  Pea  became  furious,  stamped  his 
feet,  ordered  the  two  brothers  to  be  driven 
away  with  brooms.  One  was  sent  to  feed 
the  pigs,  another  to  watch  the  turkeys. 
The  Tsar  seated  Ivanoushka  beside  him- 
self, creating  him  the  highest  among  the 
very  high. 

The  feast  lasted  a  very  long  time  until 
all  were  tired  of  feasting. 

Ivanoushka  took  control  of  the  tsars- 
tvo,  ruling  wisely  and  severely.  After 
his  father-in-law's  death  he  occupied  his 
place.  His  subjects  liked  him  ;  he  had 
many  children,  and  his  beautiful  Tsaritza 
Baktriana  remained  beautiful  forever. 


WOE   BOGOTIR 

a  small  village  —  do  not 
ask  me  where ;  in  Russia, 
anyway — there  lived  two 
brothers  ;  one  of  them  was 
rich,  the  other  poor.  The 
rich  brother  had  good  luck  in 
everything  he  undertook,  was 
always  successful,  and  had  profit  out 
of  every  venture.  The  poor  brother,  in 
spite  of  all  his  trouble  and  all  his  work, 
had  none  whatever. 

The  rich  brother  became  still  richer, 
moved  into  a  large  town,  bought  a  big 
house,  and  was  a  merchant  among  mer- 
chants. The  poor  brother  became  very 
poor,  so  poor  that  very  often  there  was 
no  crust  even  in  the  "izba,"  the  peasant's 
log  cabin,  and  the  children — all  forlorn, 
miserable  little  things — cried  for  food. 

The  poor  man  lost  patience  and  com- 
plained bitterly  of  his  ill  luck.  He  had 
no  more  courage  and  his  head  dropped 
heavily  on  his  breast.  One  day  he  de- 
cided to  call  upon  his  wealthy  brother 
for  aid.  He  went  and  said  to  him: 


108          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

"Be  good,  help  me,  for  I  am  almost 
without  strength." 

"Why  not?"  answered  the  rich  man. 
' '  We  can  do  such  things  as  that.  There 
is  wealth  enough  ;  but  look  here,  there  is 
also  plenty  of  work  to  be  done.  Stay 
around  the  house  for  a  while  and  work 
for  me." 

"All  right,"  consented  the  poor  fellow, 
and  at  once  began  to  work.  Now  he  was 
cleaning  the  big  yard,  now  grooming 
horses,  now  bringing  water  from  the  well 
or  splitting  wood.  One  week  passed,  two 
weeks  passed.  The  rich  brother  gave  him 
twenty  and  five  copecks,  which  means 
only  thirteen  cents.  He  also  gave  him 
a  loaf  of  black  rye  bread. 

"Many  thanks,"  said  the  poor  brother, 
humbly,  and  was  ready  to  leave  for  his 
miserable  home.  Evidently  the  con- 
science of  the  rich  brother  smote  him, 
so  he  called  his  brother  back. 

"Why  so  prompt?"  he  said;  "to-mor- 
row is  my  birthday  ;  stay  to  the  banquet 
with  us." 

The  poor  fellow  remained.  But  even 
on  such  a  pleasant  occasion  the  unlucky 


The  rich  brother 
[709] 


HO          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE   RUSSIAN 

one  had  no  luck.  His  rich  brother  was 
too  busy  receiving  his  numerous  friends 
and  admirers,  all  of  whom  came  to  tell 
him  how  they  loved  him  and  what  a  good 
man  he  was.  The  rich  merchant  thanked 
his  guests  for  their  love,  and  bowing  low 
begged  his  dear  guests  to  eat,  drink,  and 
enjoy  themselves.  There  was  no  time 
left  for  the  poor  brother,  and  he  was  over- 
looked entirely  while  he  sat  timidly  in  a 
corner,  quite  forgotten  and  unnoticed. 
He  had  nothing  to  eat,  nothing  to  drink. 
But  when  the  crowd  was  ready  to  say 
good-by,  before  going  away,  the  bright, 
light-hearted  guests  bowed  to  their  host 
and  told  him  many  lovely  things,  and  the 
poor  brother  did  exactly  like  them.  He 
bowed  even  lower  than  they  did  and 
expressed  more  thanks  than  they.  The 
guests  went  home  singing  in  their  new 
"telegi,"  the  peasants'  carts.  The  poor 
brother,  hungry  and  very  sad,  walked 
along  in  silence,  and  the  idea  came  to 
his  mind : 

' '  What  if  I  also  tried  to  sing  a  cheer- 
ful song?  The  people  would  believe  that 
I,  too,  have  had  a  pleasant  time  at  my 


WOE  BOGOTIR  Hi 

brother's  house  and  that  I  am  going  home 
happy  like  them." 

The  good  fellow  began  his  song,  began 
—and  almost  fainted  away,  for  he  heard 
quite  distinctly  some  one  behind  his 
back,  keeping  tune  with  him  in  a  shrill 
voice.  He  stopped.  The  voice  stopped, 
too.  He  sang,  and  the  voice  continued 
again. 

"Who  is  there?  Come  out  at  once!" 
shouted  the  poor  man,  beside  himself. 
Ha !  the  monster  appeared,  lank  and  yel- 
low, almost  a  skeleton,  covered  with  rags. 
The  poor  fellow  was  afraid,  but  had  the 
courage  to  make  the  sign  of  the  cross  and 
ask  :  ' '  Who  art  thou  ?  " 

1 '  I  ?  I  am  Bitter  Woe.  I  am  one  of  the 
Russian  heroes,  Woe  Bogotir.  I  pity  all 
weak  people.  I  pity  thee,  too,  and  want 
to  help  thee  along." 

"All  right,  Bitter  Woe;  let  us  walk 
together  arm  in  arm.  I  presume  there 
are  no  other  friends  for  me  in  this  world." 

"Let  us  ride,  good  man,"  laughed  the 
monster.  "I  will  be  thy  faithful  com- 
panion." 

"Thanks,  but  on  what  shall  we  ride?" 


112          FOLK  TALES  FROM   THE  RUSSIAN 

"I  do  not  know  on  what  thou  shalt 
ride,  but  I,  I  shall  ride  on  thee,"  and 
Woe  jumped  on  the  shoulders  of  the 
unlucky  man.  The  poor  fellow  had  no 
strength  to  throw  him  off,  so  he  crawled 
along  his  way,  the  long,  hard  way,  with 
Woe  on  his  shoulders.  He  could  hardly 
walk,  yet  Woe  was  singing,  whistling, 
and  switching  him  all  the  time. 

"Why  so  sad,  master?"  Woe  would 
ask,  when  the  poor  man  sighed.  "Listen 
to  me,  I  want  to  teach  thee  a  song,  my 
beloved  little  song : 

"  I  am  Woe,  the  brave, 
I  am  Woe,  the  bold ; 
He  who  lives  with  me 
Has  his  griefs  controlled, 
And  when  money  is  lacking 
I'll  find  him  gold. 

Attention,  master,  thou  hast  twenty-five 
copecks;  let  us  go  and  buy  some  wine; 
let  us  have  a  jolly  good  time." 

The  poor  man  obeyed.  They  went 
and  spent  all  in  drink.  After  this  the 
unlucky  fellow,  with  the  faithful  Woe 
on  his  shoulders,  came  home.  His  wife 
was  sad,  his  little  children  were  hungry 


WOE  BOGOTIR  flj 

and  in  tears,  but  he,  under  the  influence 
of  Woe  and  wine,  danced  and  sang. 

On  the  next  day  Woe  began  to  sigh 
and  said  : 

' '  I  have  a  drunken  headache.  Let  us 
drink  more." 

"I  have  no  money,"  answered  the  poor 
man. 

' '  Hast  thou  forgotten  my  little  song  ? 
Let  us  trade  the  harrow,  the  plow,  the 
sledge,  the  telega  for  money,  and  let  us 
have  a  good  time." 

"All  right." 

The  poor,  weak  man  had  no  courage 
to  refuse,  and  Woe  Bogotir  became  his 
master  and  ruler.  They  went  to  a  kabak 
and  spent  everything;  drank,  sang,  and 
had  a  good  time. 

On  the  next  day  Woe  sighed  again 
and  said  to  the  peasant : 

"Let  us  drink;  let  us  have  a  jolly 
time ;  let  us  sell  or  trade  everything  left, 
even  ourselves." 

Then  the  fellow  understood  that  his 
ruin  was  near  and  decided  to  deceive  the 
sorrowful  Woe,  so  he  said : 

' '  I  once  heard  the  old  people  say  that 


114  FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

behind  the  village,  near  the  dark  forest, 
there  is  buried  a  treasure,  yes,  a  great 
treasure,  but  it  is  buried  under  a  large, 
heavy  stone,  too  heavy  a  stone  for  one 
man  to  move.  If  we  could  only  remove 
that  stone,  thou  and  I,  Woe  Bogotir,  could 
have  a  good  time  and  plenty  to  drink." 

"Let  us  hasten!"  screamed  Woe;  "the 
Bitter  Woe  is  strong  enough  to  do  harder 
things  than  to  move  stones." 

They  went  a  roundabout  way  behind 
the  village  and  saw  the  great  big  stone, 
such  a  heavy  stone  that  five  or  six  strong 
peasants  could  never  begin  to  move  it. 
But  our  poor  fellow  with  his  faithful  Woe 
Bogotir  removed  it  at  once.  They  looked 
inside.  Under  the  stone  there  was  a  pit, 
a  dark,  deep  pit.  At  the  bottom  of  that 
pit  something  was  twinkling.  The  peas- 
ant said  to  Woe : 

"Thou  bold  Woe,  jump  in,  throw  the 
gold  out  to  me  and  I  will  hold  the  stone." 

Woe  jumped  in  and  laughed  out  loud. 

"I  declare,  master,"  he  screamed, 
' '  there  is  no  end  of  gold  !  There  are 
twenty  and  more  pots  filled  with  it,"  and 
Woe  handed  one  pot  to  the  poor  man, 


WOE  BOGOTIR  11$ 

who  took  the  pot,  hastily  hid  it  under 
his  blouse,  and  slipped  the  heavy  stone 
into  its  place.  So  Bitter  Woe  remained 
in  the  deep  pit  and  the  peasant  thought 
to  himself,  "  Now  there  is  the  right  place 
for  my  comrade,  for  with  such  a  friend, 
even  gold  would  taste  bitter." 

The  crafty  fellow  made  the  sign  of 
the  cross  and  hurried  home.  He  became 
quite  a  new  man,  courageous,  sober,  and 
industrious  ;  bought  a  grove  and  some 
cattle ;  remodeled  the  izba,  and  even 
started  a  trade.  And  very  successful  he 
was,  too.  Within  a  year  he  earned  much 
money,  and  in  place  of  the  old  hut  built 
a  fine,  new  log  cabin. 

One  bright  day  he  went  into  town  to 
ask  his  rich  brother,  with  his  wife  and 
children,  to  do  him  the  favor  of  coming 
to  a  feast  which  was  to  be  given  in  the 
new  home. 

"That's  a  joke!"  exclaimed  the  rich 
brother.  '  'Without  a  ruble  in  thy  pockets, 
stupid  fellow!  Thou  evidently  desirest 
to  imitate  rich  people,"  and  then  the 
rich  brother  laughed  and  laughed  at 
him.  But  at  the  same  time  he  got  very 


Il6          FOLK  TALES   FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

anxious  to  know  how  it  was  with  his  poor 
brother,  so  he  went  without  delay  to  the 
new  place.  When  he  arrived  there  he 
could  not  believe  his  eyes.  His  poor 
brother  seemed  to  be  quite  rich,  perhaps 
richer  than  himself.  Everything  bespoke 
wealth  and  care.  The  host  treated  his 
brother  and  the  brother's  family  most 
kindly  and  was  very  hospitable.  They 
had  good  things  to  eat  and  plenty  of 
honey  to  drink,  and  all  became  talkative. 
The  brother  who  had  been  poor  related 
everything  about  Woe,  how  he  decided 
to  deceive  him  and  how,  free  from  such 
a  burden,  he  was  getting  to  be  a  very 
happy  man. 

The  rich  man  grew  eager  and  thought : 

"Is  he  a  fool?  Out  of  so  many  pots,  to 
take  only  one!  Fool  and  nothing  but 
fool !  If  one  has  money,  even  the  Bitter 
Woe  is  not  too  bad." 

So  at  once  he  decided  to  go  in  search 
of  the  stone,  to  remove  it,  to  take  the 
treasure,  the  whole  treasure,  and  to  send 
Woe  Bogotir  back  to  his  brother. 

No  sooner  thought  than  done.  The 
rich  brother  said  good-by  and  went  away, 


WOE  BOGOTIR  117 

but  did  not  go  to  his  wealthy  home.  No, 
he  hurried  to  the  stone.  He  had  to  toil 
hard  with  the  heavy  stone,  but  finally 
moved  it  just  a  little,  and  had  not  time 
to  look  inside  when  the  hidden  Bogotir 
had  jumped  out  and  onto  his  shoulders. 

The  rich  man  felt  a  burden,  oh,  what 
a  heavy  burden !  looked  around  and  per- 
ceived the  hideous  monster.  He  heard 
this  monster  whisper  in  his  ear : 

"Thou  art  bright!  Thou  didst  want 
to  let  me  perish  in  that  pit  ?  Now,  dear- 
est, thou  wilt  not  get  rid  of  me ;  now  we 
shall  always  be  together." 

"Stupid  Woe,"  began  the  rich  man; 
"it  was  not  I  who  hid  thee  under  the 
stone;  it  was  my  brother;  go  to  him." 

But  no,  Woe  would  not  go.  The  mon- 
ster laughed  and  laughed. 

"All  the  same,  all  the  same,"  he  an- 
swered to  the  rich  man.  ' '  Let  us  remain 
dear  companions." 

The  rich  man  went  home  under  the 
heavy  burden  of  the  misery-giving  Woe. 
His  wealth  was  soon  lost,  but  his  brother, 
who  knew  how  to  get  rid  of  Woe,  was 
prosperous  and  is  prosperous  to  this  day. 


BABA   YAGA 

OMEWHERE,  I  cannot  tell 
you  exactly  where,  but  cer- 
tainly in  vast  Russia,  there 
lived  a  peasant  with  his 
wife  and  they  had  twins  — 
a  son  and  daughter.  One 
day  the  wife  died  and  the  husband 
mourned  over  her  very  sincerely  for  a 
long  time.  One  year  passed,  and  two 
years,  and  even  longer.  But  there  is  no 
order  in  a  house  without  a  woman,  and 
a  day  came  when  the  man  thought,  "If 
I  marry  again  possibly  it  would  turn  out 
all  right."  And  so  he  did,  and  had  chil- 
dren by  his  second  wife. 

The  stepmother  was  envious  of  the 
stepson  and  daughter  and  began  to  use 
them  hardly.  She  scolded  them  without 
any  reason,  sent  them  away  from  home 
as  often  as  she  wished,  and  gave  them 
scarcely  enough  to  eat.  Finally  she 
wanted  to  get  rid  of  them  altogether. 
Do  you  know  what  it  means  to  allow  a 
wicked  thought  to  enter  one's  heart? 


BABA  YAGA  119 

The  wicked  thought  grows  all  the  time 
like  a  poisonous  plant  and  slowly  kills 
the  good  thoughts.  A  wicked  feeling 
was  growing  in  the  stepmother's  heart, 
and  she  determined  to  send  the  children 
to  the  witch,  thinking  sure  enough  that 
they  would  never  return. 

"Dear  children,"  she  said  to  the 
orphans,  "go  to  my  grandmother  who 
lives  in  the  forest  in  a  hut  on  hen's  feet. 
You  will  do  everything  she  wants  you 
to,  and  she  will  give  you  sweet  things  to 
eat  and  you  will  be  happy." 

The  orphans  started  out.  But  instead 
of  going  to  the  witch,  the  sister,  a  bright 
little  girl,  took  her  brother  by  the  hand 
and  ran  to  their  own  old,  old  grand- 
mother and  told  her  all  about  their  going 
to  the  forest. 

"Oh,  my  poor  darlings !"  said  the  good 
old  grandmother,  pitying  the  children, 
' '  my  heart  aches  for  you,  but  it  is  not  in 
my  power  to  help  you.  You  have  to  go 
not  to  a  loving  grandmother,  but  to  a 
wicked  witch.  Now  listen  to  me,  my 
darlings,"  she  continued;  "I  will  give 
you  a  hint :  Be  kind  and  good  to  every 


120          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

one ;  do  not  speak  ill  words  to  any  one ; 
do  not  despise  helping  the  weakest,  and 
always  hope  that  for  you,  too,  there  will 
be  the  needed  help." 

The  good  old  grandmother  gave  the 
children  some  delicious  fresh  milk  to 
drink  and  to  each  a  big  slice  of  ham. 
She  also  gave  them  some  cookies — there 
are  cookies  everywhere — and  when  the 
children  departed  she  stood  looking  after 
them  a  long,  long  time. 

The  obedient  children  arrived  at  the 
forest  and,  oh,  wonder !  there  stood  a  hut, 
and  what  a  curious  one !  It  stood  on  tiny 
hen's  feet,  and  at  the  top  was  a  rooster's 
head.  With  their  shrill,  childish  voices 
they  called  out  loud : 

' '  Izboushka,  Izboushka !  turn  thy  back 
to  the  forest  and  thy  front  to  us!" 

The  hut  did  as  they  commanded.  The 
two  orphans  looked  inside  and  saw  the 
witch  resting  there,  her  head  near  the 
threshold,  one  foot  in  one  corner,  the 
other  foot  in  another  corner,  and  her 
knees  quite  close  to  the  ridge  pole. 

"Fou,  Fou,  Fou!"  exclaimed  the  witch; 
"I  feel  the  Russian  spirit." 


BABA  YAGA  121 

The  children  were  afraid,  and  stood 
close,  very  close  together,  but  in  spite  of 
their  fear  they  said  very  politely : 

"Ho,  grandmother,  our  stepmother 
sent  us  to  thee  to  serve  thee." 

"All  right ;  I  am  not  opposed  to  keep- 
ing you,  children.  If  you  satisfy  all  my 
wishes  I  shall  reward  you ;  if  not,  I  shall 
eat  you  up." 

Without  any  delay  the  witch  ordered 
the  girl  to  spin  the  thread,  and  the  boy, 
her  brother,  to  carry  water  in  a  sieve 
to  fill  a  big  tub.  The  poor  orphan  girl 
wept  at  her  spinning-wheel  and  wiped 
away  her  bitter  tears.  At  once  all  around 
her  appeared  small  mice  squeaking  and 
saying : 

"Sweet  girl,  do  not  cry.  Give  us 
cookies  and  we  will  help  thee." 

The  little  girl  willingly  did  so. 

"Now,"  gratefully  squeaked  the  mice, 
"go  and  find  the  black  cat.  He  is  very 
hungry  ;  give  him  a  slice  of  ham  and  he 
will  help  thee." 

The  girl  speedily  went  in  search  of  the 
cat  and  saw  her  brother  in  great  distress 
about  the  tub,  so  many  times  he  had  filled 


122          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

the  sieve,  yet  the  tub  was  still  dry.  The 
little  birds  passed,  flying  near  by,  and 
chirped  to  the  children : 

"Kind-hearted  little  children,  give  us 
some  crumbs  and  we  will  advise  you." 

The  orphans  gave  the  birds  some 
crumbs  and  the  grateful  birds  chirped 
again : 

"Some  clay  and  water,  children  dear!" 

Then  away  they  flew  through  the  air. 

The  children  understood  the  hint,  spat 
in  the  sieve,  plastered  it  up  with  clay  and 
filled  the  tub  in  a  very  short  time.  Then 
they  both  returned  to  the  hut  and  on  the 
threshold  met  the  black  cat.  They  gen- 
erously gave  him  some  of  the  good  ham 
which  their  good  grandmother  had  given 
them,  petted  him  and  asked: 

"Dear  Kitty-cat,  black  and  pretty,  tell 
us  what  to  do  in  order  to  get  away  from 
thy  mistress,  the  witch?" 

"Well,"  very  seriously  answered  the 
cat,  ' '  I  will  give  you  a  towel  and  a  comb 
and  then  you  must  run  away.  When  you 
hear  the  witch  running  after  you,  drop 
the  towel  behind  your  back  and  a  large 
river  will  appear  in  place  of  the  towel. 


BABA  YAGA  123 

If  you  hear  her  once  more,  throw  down 
the  comb  and  in  place  of  the  comb  there 
will  appear  a  dark  wood.  This  wood  will 
protect  you  from  the  wicked  witch,  my 
mistress." 

Baba  Yaga  came  home  just  then. 

"Is  it  not  wonderful?"  she  thought; 
"  every  thing  is  exactly  right." 

"Well, "she  said  to  the  children,  " to- 
day you  were  brave  and  smart ;  let  us 
see  to-morrow.  Your  work  will  be  more 
difficult  and  I  hope  I  shall  eat  you  up." 

The  poor  orphans  went  to  bed,  not  to 
a  warm  bed  prepared  by  loving  hands, 
but  on  the  straw  in  a  cold  corner.  Nearly 
scared  to  death  from  fear,  they  lay  there, 
afraid  to  talk,  afraid  even  to  breathe. 
The  next  morning  the  witch  ordered  all 
the  linen  to  be  woven  and  a  large  supply 
of  firewood  to  be  brought  from  the  forest. 

The  children  took  the  towel  and  comb 
and  ran  away  as  fast  as  their  feet  could 
possibly  carry  them.  The  dogs  were  after 
them,  but  they  threw  them  the  cookies 
that  were  left;  the  gates  did  not  open 
themselves,  but  the  children  smoothed 
them  with  oil;  the  birch  tree  near  the 


124          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

path  almost  scratched  their  eyes  out,  but 
the  gentle  girl  fastened  a  pretty  ribbon 
to  it.  So  they  went  farther  and  farther 
and  ran  out  of  the  dark  forest  into  the 
wide,  sunny  fields. 

The  cat  sat  down  by  the  loom  and  tore 
the  thread  to  pieces,  doing  it  with  delight. 
Baba  Yaga  returned. 

' '  Where  are  the  children?"  she  shouted, 
and  began  to  beat  the  cat.  "Why  hast 
thou  let  them  go,  thou  treacherous  cat? 
Why  hast  thou  not  scratched  their  faces?" 

The  cat  answered:  "Well,  it  was  be- 
cause I  have  served  thee  so  many  years 
and  thou  hast  never  given  me  a  bite, 
while  the  dear  children  gave  me  some 
good  ham." 

The  witch  scolded  the  dogs,  the  gates, 
and  the  birch  tree  near  the  path. 

"Well,"  barked  the  dogs,  "thou  cer- 
tainly art  our  mistress,  but  thou  hast 
never  done  us  a  favor,  and  the  orphans 
were  kind  to  us." 

The  gates  replied : 

' '  We  were  always  ready  to  obey  thee, 
but  thou  didst  neglect  us,  and  the  dear 
children  smoothed  us  with  oil." 


1  The  children  ran  away  as  fast  as  their  feet  could  possibly 

carry  them ' ' 
a  I«tf1 


126          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

The  birch  tree  lisped  with  its  leaves, 
"Thou  hast  never  put  a  simple  thread 
over  my  branches  and  the  little  darlings 
adorned  them  with  a  pretty  ribbon." 

Baba  Yaga  understood  that  there  was 
no  help  and  started  to  follow  the  chil- 
dren herself.  In  her  great  hurry  she  for- 
got to  look  for  the  towel  and  the  comb, 
but  jumped  astride  a  broom  and  was 
off.  The  children  heard  her  coming  and 
threw  the  towel  behind  them.  At  once  a 
river,  wide  and  blue,  appeared  and  wa- 
tered the  field.  Baba  Yaga  hopped  along 
the  shore  until  she  finally  found  a  shallow 
place  and  crossed  it. 

Again  the  children  heard  her  hurry 
after  them  and  so  they  threw  down  the 
comb.  This  time  a  forest  appeared,  a 
dark  and  dusky  forest  in  which  the  roots 
were  interwoven,  the  branches  matted 
together,  and  the  tree-tops  touching  each 
other.  The  witch  tried  very  hard  to  pass 
through,  but  in  vain,  and  so,  very,  very 
angry,  she  returned  home. 

The  orphans  rushed  to  their  father, 
told  him  all  about  their  great  distress, 
and  thus  concluded  their  pitiful  story: 


BABA  YAGA  127 

"Ah,  father  dear,  why  dost  thou  love 
us  less  than  our  brothers  and  sisters?" 

The  father  was  touched  and  became 
angry.  He  sent  the  wicked  stepmother 
away  and  lived  a  new  life  with  his  good 
children.  From  that  time  he  watched 
over  their  happiness  and  never  neglected 
them  any  more. 

How  do  I  know  this  story  is  true? 
Why,  one  was  there  who  told  me  about  it. 


DIMIAN  THE  PEASANT 

[OT  long  ago,  or  perchance  very 
long  ago,  I  do  not  know  for 
sure,  there  lived  in  a  village, 
some  place  in  Russia,  a  peasant — a 
moujik.  And  this  peasant  was  a 
stubborn  and  a  quick-tempered  fellow, 
and  his  name  was  Dimian. 

He  was  harsh  by  nature,  this  Dimian, 
and  wanted  everything  to  go  his  own 
way.  If  any  one  talked  or  acted  against 
him,  Dimian's  fists  were  soon  prepared 
for  answer. 

Sometimes,  for  instance,  he  would  in- 
vite one  of  his  neighbors  and  treat  his 
guest  with  fine  things  to  eat  and  to  drink. 
And  the  neighbor  in  order  to  maintain 
the  old  custom  would  pretend  to  refuse. 
Dimian  would  at  once  begin  the  dispute : 
"Thou  must  obey  thy  host ! " 
Once  it  happened  that  a  shrewd  fellow 
called  on  him.  Our  moujik  Dimian  cov- 
ered the  table  with  the  very  best  he 
had  and  rejoiced  over  the  good  time  he 
foresaw. 


"Well,  I  struck  a  snag" 


130          FOLK  TALES   FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

The  fellow  guest  speedily  ate  every- 
thing up.  Dimian  was  rather  amazed, 
but  brought  out  his  kaftan. 

"Take  off  thy  sheepskin,"  said  he  to 
the  guest ;  "put  on  my  new  kaftan." 

In  proposing  it  he  thought  within 
himself : 

"I  will  bet  that  this  time  he  will  not 
dare  accept;  then  I  will  teach  him  a 
lesson." 

But  the  fellow  quickly  put  on  the  new 
kaftan,  tightened  it  with  the  belt,  shook 
his  curly  head  and  answered : 

' '  Have  my  thanks,  uncle,  for  thy  gift. 
How  could  I  dare  not  take  it  ?  Why,  one 
must  obey  his  host's  bidding." 

Dimian's  temper  was  rising,  and  he 
wanted  at  any  rate  to  have  his  own  way. 
But  what  to  do?  He  hastened  to  the 
stable,  brought  out  his  best  horse,  and 
said  to  his  guest : 

' '  Thou  art  welcome  to  all  my  belong- 
ings," and  within  himself  he  thought, 
"He  certainly  will  refuse  this  time,  and 
then  my  turn  will  come." 

But  the  fellow  did  not  refuse,  and 
smilingly  answered : 


DIMIAN  THE  PEASANT  IJI 

"In  thy  house  them  art  the  ruler,"  and 
quickly  he  jumped  on  the  horse's  back 
and  shouted  to  Dimian,  the  peasant: 

"Farewell,  master!  no  one  pushed  thee 
into  the  trap  but  thyself,"  and  with  these 
words  the  fellow  was  off. 

Dimian  looked  after  him  and  shook  his 
head. 

"Well,  I  struck  a  snag,"  said  he. 


THE 
GOLDEN  MOUNTAIN 


ONGE  upon  a  time  a  merchant's 
son  had  too  much  fun  spending 
money,  and  the  day  came  when 
he  saw  himself  ruined;  he  had  nothing  to 
eat,  nothing  to  drink.  He  took  a  shovel 
and  went  to  the  market  place  to  see  if 
perchance  somebody  would  hire  him  as  a 
worker. 

A  rich,  proud  merchant,  worth  many, 
many  thousands,  came  along  in  a  gilded 
carriage.  All  the  fellows  at  the  market 
place,  as  soon  as  they  perceived  him, 
rushed  away  and  hid  themselves  in  the 
corners.  Only  one  remained,  and  this 
one  was  our  merchant's  son. 

' '  Dost  thou  look  for  work,  good  fellow  ? 
Let  me  hire  thee,"  the  very  rich  merchant 
said  to  him. 

"So  be  it;  that's  what  I  came  here  for." 

"And  thy  price?" 

'  'A  hundred  rubles  a  day  will  be  suffi- 
cient for  me." 

"Why  so  much?" 


THE  GOLDEN  MOUNTAIN  133 

"If  too  much,  go  and  look  for  some 
one  else;  plenty  of  people  were  around 
and  when  they  saw  thee  coming,  all  of 
them  rushed  away." 

"All  right.  To-morrow  come  to  the 
landing  place." 

The  next  day,  early  in  the  morning, 
our  merchant's  son  arrived  at  the  land- 
ing ;  the  very  rich  merchant  was  already 
there  waiting. 

They  boarded  a  ship  and  went  to  sea. 
For  quite  a  long  time  they  journeyed, 
and  finally  they  perceived  an  island. 
Upon  that  island  there  were  high  moun- 
tains, and  near  the  shore  something 
seemed  to  be  in  flames. 

"Yonder  is  something  like  fire, "said 
the  merchant's  son. 

"No,  it  is  my  golden  palace." 

They  landed,  came  ashore,  and — look 
there  !  the  rich  merchant's  wife  is  hasten- 
ing to  meet  him,  and  along  with  her  their 
young  daughter,  a  lovely  girl,  prettier 
than  you  could  think  or  even  dream  of. 

The  family  met ;  they  greeted  one 
another  and  went  to  the  palace.  And 
along  with  them  went  their  new  work- 


134          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

man.  They  sat  around  the  oak  table  and 
ate  and  drank  and  were  cheerful. 

"One  day  does  not  count,"  the  rich 
merchant  said;  "let  us  have  a  good  time 
and  leave  work  for  to-morrow." 

The  young  workman  was  a  fine,  brave 
fellow,  handsome  and  stately,  and  the 
merchant's  lovely  daughter  liked  him 
well. 

She  left  the  room  and  made  him  a 
sign  to  follow  her.  Then  she  gave  him 
a  touchstone  and  a  flint. 

"Take  it,"  she  said  ;  "when  thou  art 
in  need,  it  will  be  useful." 

The  next  day  the  very  rich  merchant 
with  his  hired  workman  went  to  the  high 
golden  mountain.  The  young  fellow  saw 
at  once  that  there  was  no  use  trying  to 
climb  or  even  to  crawl  up. 

"Well,"  said  the  merchant,  "let  us 
have  a  drink  for  courage." 

And  he  gave  the  fellow  some  drowsy 
drink.  The  fellow  drank  and  fell  asleep. 

The  rich  merchant  took  out  a  sharp 
knife,  killed  a  wretched  horse,  cut  it 
open,  put  the  fellow  inside,  pushed  in 
the  shovel,  and  sewed  the  horse's  skin 


THE  GOLDEN  MOUNTAIN  Ijj 

together,  and  himself  sat  down  in  the 
bushes. 

All  at  once  crows  came  flying,  black 
crows  with  iron  beaks.  They  took  hold 
of  the  carcass,  lifted  it  up  to  the  top  of 
the  high  mountain,  and  began  to  pick 
at  it. 

The  crows  soon  ate  up  the  horse  and 
were  about  to  begin  on  the  merchant's 
son,  when  he  awoke,  pushed  away  the 
crows,  looked  around  and  asked  out  loud : 

"Where  am  I?" 

The  rich  merchant  below  answered : 

' '  On  a  golden  mountain ;  take  the 
shovel  and  dig  for  gold." 

And  the  young  man  dug  and  dug,  and 
all  the  gold  he  dug  he  threw  down,  and 
the  rich  merchant  loaded  it  upon  the 
carts. 

"Enough!"  finally  shouted  the  mas- 
ter. ' '  Thanks  for  thy  help.  Farewell ! " 

"And  I — how  shall  I  get  down?" 

'  'As  thou  pleasest ;  there  have  already 
perished  nine  and  ninety  of  such  fellows 
as  thou.  With  thee  the  count  will  be 
rounded  and  thou  wilt  be  the  hundredth." 

The  proud,  rich  merchant  was  off. 


Ij6          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE   RUSSIAN 

"What  shall  I  do?"  thought  the  poor 
merchant's  son.  ' '  Impossible  to  go  down ! 
But  to  stay  here  means  death,  a  cruel 
death  from  hunger." 

And  our  fellow  stood  upon  the  moun- 
tain, while  above  the  black  crows  were 
circling,  the  black  crows  with  iron  beaks, 
as  if  feeling  already  the  prey. 

The  fellow  tried  to  think  how  it  all 
happened,  and  he  remembered  the  lovely 
girl  and  what  she  said  to  him  in  giving 
him  the  touchstone  and  the  flint.  He 
remembered  how  she  said : 

"Take  it.  When  thou  art  in  need  it 
will  prove  useful." 

' '  I  fancy  she  had  something  in  mind  ; 
let  us  try." 

The  poor  merchant's  son  took  out  stone 
and  flint,  struck  it  once  and  lo  !  two  brave 
fellows  were  standing  before  him. 

"What  is  thy  wish?  What  are  thy 
commands?"  said  they. 

"Take  me  from  this  mountain  down 
to  the  seashore." 

And  at  once  the  two  took  hold  of  him 
and  carefully  brought  him  down. 

Our  hero  walks  along  the  shore.    See 


THE  GOLDEN  MOUNTAIN  137 

there  !  a  vessel  comes  sailing  near  the 
island. 

"Ahoy!  good  people!  take  me  along!" 

"No  time  to  stop!"  And  they  went 
sailing  by.  But  the  winds  arose  and  the 
tempest  was  heavy. 

' '  It  seems  as  if  this  fellow  over  there 
is  not  an  ordinary  man  ;  we  had  better 
go  back  and  take  him  along,"  decided 
the  sailors. 

They  turned  the  prow  toward  the 
island,  landed,  took  the  merchant's  son 
along  with  them  and  brought  him  to  his 
native  town. 

It  was  a  long  time,  or  perhaps  only  a 
short  time  after — who  could  tell? — that 
one  day  the  merchant's  son  took  again 
his  shovel  and  went  to  the  market  place 
in  search  of  work. 

The  same  very  rich  merchant  came 
along  in  his  gilded  carriage ;  and,  as  of 
old,  all  the  fellows  who  saw  him  coming 
rushed  away. 

The  merchant's  son  remained  alone. 

"  Will  you  be  my  workman?" 

' '  I  will  at  two  hundred  rubles  a  day. 
If  so,  let  us  to  work. " 


/Jc?          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

"A  rather  expensive  fellow." 

"If  too  expensive  go  to  others ;  get  a 
cheap  man.  There  were  plenty  of  people, 
but  when  thou  didst  appear — thou  seest 
thyself — not  one  is  left." 

' '  Well,  all  right.  Come  to-morrow  to 
the  landing  place." 

They  met  at  the  landing  place,  boarded 
a  ship  and  sailed  toward  the  island. 

The  first  day  they  spent  rather  gayly, 
and  on  the  second,  master  and  workman 
went  to  work. 

When  they  reached  the  golden  moun- 
tain the  rich,  proud  merchant  treated  his 
hired  man  to  a  tumbler. 

"Before  all,  have  a  drink." 

' '  Wait,  master !  thou  art  the  head  ; 
thou  must  drink  the  first.  Let  me  treat 
thee  this  time." 

The  young  man  had  already  prepared 
some  of  the  drowsy  stuff  and  he  quickly 
mixed  it  with  the  wine  and  presented  it 
to  the  master. 

The  proud  merchant  drank  and  fell 
sound  asleep. 

Our  merchant's  son  killed  a  miserable 
old  horse,  cut  it  open,  pushed  his  master 


THE  GOLDEN  MOUNTAIN  139 

and  the  shovel  inside,  sewed  it  all  up  and 
hid  himself  in  the  bushes. 

All  at  once  black  crows  came  flying, 
— black  crows  with  iron  beaks;  they 
promptly  lifted  up  the  horse  with  the 
sleeping  merchant  inside,  bore  it  to  the 
top  of  the  mountain,  and  began  to  pick 
the  bones  of  their  prey. 

When  the  merchant  awoke  he  looked 
here  and  looked  there  and  looked  every- 
where. 

"Where  am  I?" 

"Upon  the  golden  mountain.  Now  if 
thou  art  strong  after  thy  rest,  do  not  lose 
time ;  take  the  shovel  and  dig.  Dig 
quickly  and  I'll  teach  thee  how  to  come 
down." 

The  proud,  rich  merchant  had  to  obey 
and  dug  and  dug.  Twelve  big  carts  were 
loaded. 

"Enough!"  shouted  the  merchant's 
son.  "Thank  thee,  and  farewell ! " 

"And  I?" 

"And  thou  mayst  do  as  thou  wishest! 
There  are  already  ninety  and  nine  fellows 
perished  before  thee;  with  thyself  there 
will  be  a  hundred." 


140          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

The  merchant's  son  took  along  with 
him  the  twelve  heavy  carts  with  gold, 
arrived  at  the  golden  palace  and  married 
the  lovely  girl ;  the  rich  merchant's  daugh- 
ter became  mistress  of  all  her  father's 
wealth,  and  the  merchant's  son  with  his 
family  moved  to  a  large  town  to  live. 

And  the  rich  merchant,  the  proud,  rich 
merchant? 

He  himself,  like  his  many  victims,  be- 
came the  prey  of  the  black  crows,  black 
crows  with  iron  beaks. 

Well,  sometimes  it  happens  just  so. 


FATHER  FROST 

a  far-away  country,  some- 
where in  Russia,  there  lived 
a  stepmother  who  had  a 
stepdaughter  and  also  a 
daughter  of  her  own.  Her 
own  daughter  was  dear  to  her,  and  always 
whatever  she  did  the  mother  was  the  first 
to  praise  her,  to  pet  her ;  but  there  was 
but  little  praise  for  the  stepdaughter ; 
although  good  and  kind,  she  had  no  other 
reward  than  reproach.  What  on  earth 
could  have  been  done  ?  The  wind  blows, 
but  stops  blowing  at  times ;  the  wicked 
woman  never  knows  how  to  stop  her 
wickedness.  One  bright  cold  day  the 
stepmother  said  to  her  husband : 

"Now,  old  man,  I  want  thee  to  take 
thy  daughter  away  from  my  eyes,  away 
from  my  ears.  Thou  shalt  not  take  her 
to  thy  people  into  a  warm  izba.  Thou 
shalt  take  her  into  the  wide,  wide  fields 
to  the  crackling  frost." 

The  old  father  grew  sad,  began  even  to 
weep,  but  nevertheless  helped  the  young 

c«" 


1*2  FOLK  TALES   FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

girl  into  the  sleigh.  He  wished  to  cover 
her  with  a  sheepskin  in  order  to  protect 
her  from  the  cold ;  however,  he  did  not  do 
it.  He  was  afraid ;  his  wife  was  watch- 
ing them  out  of  the  window.  And  so  he 
went  with  his  lovely  daughter  into  the 
wide,  wide  fields  ;  drove  her  nearly  to  the 
woods,  left  her  there  alone,  and  speedily 
drove  away — he  was  a  good  man  and  did 
not  care  to  see  his  daughter's  death. 

Alone,  quite  alone,  remained  the  sweet 
girl.  Broken-hearted  and  terror-stricken 
she  repeated  fervently  all  the  prayers  she 
knew. 

Father  Frost,  the  almighty  sovereign 
at  that  place,  clad  in  furs,  with  a  long, 
long,  white  beard  and  a  shining  crown  on 
his  white  head,  approached  nearer  and 
nearer,  looked  at  this  beautiful  guest  of 
his  and  asked : 

"Dost  thou  know  me? — me,  the  red- 
nosed  Frost?" 

' '  Be  welcome,  Father  Frost, "  answered 
gently  the  young  girl.  ' '  I  hope  our  heav- 
enly Lord  sent  thee  for  my  sinful  soul." 

"Art  thou  comfortable,  sweet  child?" 
again  asked  the  Frost.  He  was  exceed- 


FATHER  FROST  143 

ingly  pleased  with  her  looks  and  mild 
manners. 

"Indeed  I  am,"  answered  the  girl, 
almost  out  of  breath  from  cold. 

And  the  Frost,  cheerful  and  bright, 
kept  crackling  in  the  branches  until  the 
air  became  icy,  but  the  good-natured  girl 
kept  repeating : 

"I  am  very  comfortable,  dear  Father 
Frost." 

But  the  Frost,  however,  knew  all  about 
the  weakness  of  human  beings  ;  he  knew 
very  well  that  few  of  them  are  really 
good  and  kind ;  but  he  knew  no  one  of 
them  even  could  struggle  too  long  against 
the  power  of  Frost,  the  king  of  winter. 
The  kindness  of  the  gentle  girl  charmed 
old  Frost  so  much  that  he  made  the  de- 
cision to  treat  her  differently  from  others, 
and  gave  her  a  large  heavy  trunk  filled 
with  many  beautiful,  beautiful  things. 
He  gave  her  a  rich  "schouba"  lined  with 
precious  furs ;  he  gave  her  silk  quilts — 
light  like  feathers  and  warm  as  a  mother's 
lap.  What  a  rich  girl  she  became  and 
how  many  magnificent  garments  she  re- 
ceived !  And  besides  all,  old  Frost  gave 


"  Old  Frost  gave  the  gentle  girl  many  beautiful, 
beautiful  things ' ' 


FATHER   FROST  145 

her  a  blue  "sarafan"  ornamented  with 
silver  and  pearls. 

When  the  young  girl  put  it  on  she 
became  such  a  beautiful  maiden  that 
even  the  sun  smiled  at  her. 

The  stepmother  was  in  the  kitchen 
busy  baking  pancakes  for  the  meal  which 
it  is  the  custom  to  give  to  the  priests  and 
friends  after  the  usual  service  for  the 
dead. 

"Now,  old  man,"  said  the  wife  to  the 
husband,  "go  down  to  the  wide  fields  and 
bring  the  body  of  thy  daughter ;  we  will 
bury  her." 

The  old  man  went  off.  And  the  little 
dog  in  the  corner  wagged  his  tail  and  said : 

"Bow-wow!  bow-wow!  the  old  man's 
daughter  is  on  her  way  home,  beautiful 
and  happy  as  never  before,  and  the  old 
woman's  daughter  is  wicked  as  ever  be- 
fore." 

"Keep  still,  stupid  beast!"  shouted 
the  stepmother,  and  struck  the  little  dog. 

"Here,  take  this  pancake,  eat  it  and 
say,  'The  old  woman's  daughter  will  be 
married  soon  and  the  old  man's  daughter 
shall  be  buried  soon.' " 

10 


146          FOLK  TALES  FROM  THE  RUSSIAN 

The  dog  ate  the  pancake  and  began 
anew: 

''Bow-wow!  bow-wow!  the  old  man's 
daughter  is  coming  home  wealthy  and 
happy  as  never  before,  and  the  old 
woman's  daughter  is  somewhere  around 
as  homely  and  wicked  as  ever  before." 

The  old  woman  was  furious  at  the  dog, 
but  in  spite  of  pancakes  and  whipping, 
the  dog  repeated  the  same  words  over 
and  over  again. 

Somebody  opened  the  gate,  voices  were 
heard  laughing  and  talking  outside.  The 
old  woman  looked  out  and  sat  down  in 
amazement.  The  stepdaughter  was  there 
like  a  princess,  bright  and  happy  in  the 
most  beautiful  garments,  and  behind  her 
the  old  father  had  hardly  strength  enough 
to  carry  the  heavy,  heavy  trunk  with  the 
rich  outfit. 

"Old  man !"  called  the  stepmother,  im- 
patiently ;  ' '  hitch  our  best  horses  to  our 
best  sleigh,  and  drive  my  daughter  to  the 
very  same  place  in  the  wide,  wide  fields." 

The  old  man  obeyed  as  usual  and  took 
his  stepdaughter  to  the  same  place  and 
left  her  alone. 


FATHER  FROST  147 

Old  Frost  was  there ;  he  looked  at  his 
new  guest. 

''Art  thou  comfortable,  fair  maiden?" 
asked  the  red-nosed  sovereign. 

"Let  me  alone,"  harshly  answered  the 
girl ;  ' '  canst  thou  not  see  that  my  feet  and 
my  hands  are  about  stiff  from  the  cold?" 

The  Frost  kept  crackling  and  asking 
questions  for  quite  a  while,  but  obtaining 
no  polite  answer  became  angry  and  froze 
the  girl  to  death. 

"Old  man,  go  for  my  daughter;  take 
the  best  horses  ;  be  careful ;  do  not  upset 
the  sleigh  ;  do  not  lose  the  trunk." 

And  the  little  dog  in  the  corner  said : 

"Bow-wow  !  bow-wow  !  the  old  man's 
daughter  will  marry  soon ;  the  old  woman's 
daughter  shall  be  buried  soon." 

"Do  not  lie.  Here  is  a  cake;  eat  it 
and  say,  'The  old  woman's  daughter  is 
clad  in  silver  and  gold.'  " 

The  gate  opened,  the  old  woman  ran 
out  and  kissed  the  stiff  frozen  lips  of  her 
daughter.  She  wept  and  wept,  but  there 
was  no  help,  and  she  understood  at  last 
that  through  her  own  wickedness  and 
envy  her  child  had  perished. 


NOTES 

{The  numbers  refer  to  pages  in  the  text.) 

13.  A  tsarstvo  is  the  domain  of  a  tsar  (czar),  which 
is  the  title  of  an  absolute  monarch  in  Russia.    The 
word  tsar,  derived  from  the  Roman  name  and  title, 
Caesar,  may  be  translated  emperor,  king,  or  prince. 
A  number  of  words  are  formed  from  it  by  adding 
different  syllables  :  Tsarevitch,  the  tsar's  son,  prince; 
Tsarevna,  the  tsar's  daughter,  princess;  Tsaritza,  the 
tsar's  wife,  queen  or  empress. 

14.  Boyar  was  the  word  formerly  used  to  mean  a 
Russian  nobleman;  so  a  boyar-house  is  a  lord's  house; 
boyarishniay  a  lord's  daughter.     The  terem  was  that 
part  of  the  boyar-house  in  which  the  women's  rooms 
were  situated. 

1 6.  In  Russia  there  is  a  fatherly  relation  existing 
between  the  ruler  and  his  subjects  which  is  shown 
in  such  phrases  as  "the  tsar  father,"  "their  father 
sovereign,"  etc.    The  Russian  language  has  many 
diminutives,  or  terms  of  endearment.     For  instance, 
the  Tzar  is  often  affectionately  called  "  the  little 
father  "  by  his  subjects. 

17.  "Once  said,  quickly  done.1"    This  is  the  Rus- 
sian idiom.    Observe  how  much  more  lively  it  is  than 
our  own  "No  sooner  said  than  done." 

29.  The  holy  icons  are  pictures  or  mosaics  of 
Christ,  or  the  Virgin  Mary,  or  of  some  saint  or  mar- 
tyr of  the  Russian  church.  In  every  Russian  house 
there  is  one  or  more,  hung  in  a  prominent  place. 
Every  one  who  enters  the  house  at  once  bows  and 
utters  a  prayer  before  the  icons  before  he  does  any- 
thing else.  This  is  an  old  Russian  custom  which  is 
still  kept  up  by  peasants. 


ISO  NOTES 

29.  Strong  green  wine.  This  is  the  phrase  still 
used  by  Russian  story-tellers  to  describe  the  drink 
which  it  was  an  honor  to  receive  from  the  royal  hand. 
Its  strength  was  magical  in  that  it  was  not  acquired 
by  keeping,  but  was  always  the  same. 

35.  For  a  cloudy  day  is  the  Russian  idiom  very 
similar  to  our  own. 

37.  //  is  a  peasant's  trade  is  a  Russian  saying 
which  means,  "It  doesn't  amount  to  much." 

46.  Moujik,  a  peasant:  his  duties  are  those  of  a 
farm  laborer,  yet  this  phrase  would  not  be  a  fair 
translation.  This  word,  which  is  rendered  "tiller 
of  the  soil,"  has  no  exact  equivalent  in  English. 

48.  Korolevitch,  from  korol:  king.  The  endings 
evitch  and  evna  show  descent,  korolevitch  mean- 
ing son  of  a  king ;  korolevna  meaning  daughter  of 
a  king. 

53.  Dutch  trumpet,  i.  e.,  an  imported  trumpet. 
Anything  foreign  is  "  Dutch  "  to  the  Russian  peasant. 

60.  Honey  drink,  a  drink  made  by  fermenting 
honey  and  water.  It  is  quite  common  in  Russia,  and 
is  about  the  same  as  our  mead. 

65.  Russian  and  other  Slavonic  tales  often  have 
queer  endings,  similar  to  the  one  here  given  by  the 
story-teller  at  the  end  of  the  story,  which  is  no  part 
of  the  tale.    To  the  Russian  they  give  a  poetic  touch, 
a  little  sense  of  confusion  and  mystery  which  is  cer- 
tainly delightful. 

66.  Holy  Russia.    To  the  Russian  his  country  is 
sacred  ;  everything  outside  is  profane  by  comparison. 
The  phrase  suggests  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  of  his- 
tory, or  the  Celestial  Kingdom  of  the  Chinese. 

81.  In  the  peasant's  house  there  is  often  a  large 
stove  of  brick  or  tile  on  which  the  family  sleep  in 
cold  weather. 

83.  A  day  in  and  an  equal  day  out,  the  Russian 
idiom.  Observe  how  very  like  our  own. 

113.    Kabak,  a  drinking  saloon. 

115.    The  ruble  is  the  principal  coin  of  Russia,  as 


NOTES  151 

the  dollar  is  in  the  United  States.  It  is  equal  to  too 
copecks,  and  at  this  time  (1903)  is  worth  only  about 
50  cents. 

1 1 6.  Honey  to  drink,  i.  e.,  fermented  honey,  or 
mead.  (See  note  to  p.  60.) 

1 1 8.  Baba,  a  peasant  woman,  or  grandmother; 
granny.  Yaga,  witch.  Baba  Yaga,  therefore,  is  the 
familiar  "  Grandmother  Witch." 

120.    Izbay  a  hut.    Izboushka,  a  tiny  hut. 

143.    Schouba,  a  large  fur-lined  cloak. 

145.  Sarafan,  the  Russian  national  costume  for 
women. 


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